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IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE   GODS 


IN  THE  LAND 
OF  THE  GODS 

SOME  STORIES 

OF   JAPAN    BY 

ALICE 

MABEL 

BACON 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND 
COMPANY  MDCCCCV 


COPYRIGHT  1905  BY 
ALICE  MABEL  BACON 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


Published  October  1305 


TO  MY  JAPANESE  FRIENDS,  THROUGH 
WHOSE  EYES  I  HAVE  SEEN,  BY  WHOSE 
EARS  I  HAVE  HEARD,  WITH  WHOSE 
VOICES  I  HAVE  SPOKEN,  THIS  VOLUME 
IS  GRATEFULLY  AND  AFFECTIONATELY 
INSCRIBED 


DEDICATION 
267975 


A  STORY  book  should  need  no  introduc 
tion,  but  inasmuch  as  this  one  deals  with 
customs,  beliefs,  and  modes  of  thought  as 
yet  unfamiliar  to  American  readers,  a  few 
preliminary  words  of  explanation  may  be 
an  aid  to  sympathy  and  comprehension. 

Since  the  great  war  has  begun  to  show 
us  something  of  the  intensity  of  Japanese 
national  life,  nothing,  perhaps,  has  sur 
prised  the  Occident  more  than  the  spirit 
ual  force  of  the  race,  —  the  reverent  but 
certain  attitude  in  which  its  members 
stand  toward  much  that  is  to  us  unknown, 
or  at  best  intermittently  believed.  In  no 
respect  do  the  Japanese  as  a  nation  differ 
more  widely  from  Occidentals  than  in  their 
actual  practical  belief  in  the  close  relations 
existing  between  the  visible  and  the  invis 
ible,  and  in  the  continuity  of  this  life  and 
the  next.  The  pledge  of  "  loyalty  to  the 


PREFACE 


viii  Emperor  for  seven  lives"  is  not  a  mere 
hyperbole.  It  voices  the  deepest  religious 
feeling  of  the  Japanese  soul. 

In  the  hope  that  somehow,  by  this  effort 
to  render  vivid  to  American  minds  some 
of  the  popular  beliefs  and  superstitions  of 
Japan,  I  may  be  able  to  help  my  own  people 
to  a  more  sympathetic  understanding  of 
our  trans-Pacific  neighbors,  I  have  written 
out  these  stories.  Many  of  them  are  sim 
ply  folk-tales,  set,  for  our  better  compre 
hension  of  the  conditions,  in  the  every-day 
atmosphere  of  Japanese  home-life  in  coun 
try  or  city.  One,  "  The  Blue  Flame,"  is  an 
incident  told  me  as  true,  and  as  occurring 
in  the  very  town  in  which  the  narrator 
lived.  Two,  "The  Favor  of  Hachiman" 
and  "  At  the  Shrine  of  Fudo,"  while  neither 
folk-tales  nor  stories  told  to  me,  set  forth 
beliefs  that  to-day  actuate  the  lives  of  some 
forty  million  wide-awake,  progressive,  and 
intelligent  people. 

Three  of  the  stories  are  devoted  to  the 
fox   superstition,  still    found   among  the 

PREFACE 


peasants  and  among  the  lower  classes  in      ix 
the   cities,  but   that    no  longer  survives 
among  the  educated  modern  Japanese. 

For  a  fuller  understanding  of  the  mys 
teries  touched  upon  in  this  volume,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  works  of  Lafcadio 
Hearn.  His  book,  "Japan,  an  Attempt 
at  Interpretation,"  is  the  most  complete 
and  sympathetic  study  yet  made  of  the 
spiritual  side  of  the  nation,  and  the  chapter 
"  Kitsune,"  in  volume  one  of  his  "  Glimpses 
of  Unfamiliar  Japan,"  relates  in  charming 
form  the  various  phases  of  the  fox  belief. 

HOLDERNESS,   N.   H., 

August,  1905. 


PREFACE 


I  THE  FAVOR  OF  HACHIMAN  i 

II   AT  THE  SHRINE  OF  FUDO  39 

III  THE  BLUE  FLAME  73 

IV  THE  INDEPENDENCE  OF  SABURO    85 
V  KITSUN&  YASHIKI  105 

VI   CHOKICHI'S  PILGRIMAGE  131 

VII   THE  BUYER  OF  AM£  151 

VIII   THE  PEONY  LANTERN  169 

IX  THE  LADY  OF  THE  SCROLL  215 

X  HOW  FUMI  REMEMBERED  239 

GLOSSARY  267 


CONTENTS 


I 


THE  FAVOR  OF  HACHIMAN 


Hachiman  is  the  deified  spirit  of  the  Emperor  Ojin, 
son  of  the  warrior  Empress  Jingo.  He  is  now  wor 
shiped  as  the  God  of  War  in  many  shrines  and  tem 
ples  throughout  Japan. 


I 


IT  was  the  eve  of  the  annual  Feast  of  the 
Dead,1  and  O  Kimi  San  had  just  finished 
the  construction  and  decoration  of  the 
"  Spirit  Altar."  She  had  set  the  posts  and 
hung  the  rice-straw  rope,  and  swung  from 
it  the  fringe  of  vermicelli,  green  chestnut 
sprays,  white  paper,  and  dried  fruits  and 
vegetables.  She  had  shaped  with  her  own 
hands,  from  cucumbers  and  egg-fruits,  the 
rude  representations  of  cattle  and  horses, 
and  had  set  them,  together  with  fresh  food 
and  wine,  before  the  quaint  little  shrine 
that  stood  now,  completed,  in  the  place 
of  honor  in  the  house.  And  all  the  time 
as  she  worked  she  had  been  thinking  of 

1  The  annual  Feast  of  the  Dead,  or  O  Bon  Matsuri, 
is  celebrated  at  the  August  full  moon.  At  this  time, 
for  three  days,  the  spirits  of  the  dead  are  believed  to 
revisit  their  old  homes,  and  special  measures  are  taken 
for  their  reception  and  entertainment. 

THE  FAVOR  OF  HACHIMAN 


4  Taro,  and  the  tears  came  to  her  tired  old 
eyes,  and  dropped  sometimes  upon  her 
work,  as  she  thought  of  how,  only  three 
months  before,  he  had  gone  to  the  war, 
and  then  of  how  soon  came  back  to  his 
old  father  and  mother  the  word  of  his 
death,  fighting  the  hairy  Russians  in  Man 
churia. 

And  so  to-day,  as  she  prepared  to  do 
honor  to  the  visiting  spirits,  it  was  of  Taro 
that  she  thought  more  than  of  the  ances 
tral  ghosts  for  whom  she  had  kept  the  feast 
so  many  years.  Taro,  her  brave,  strong 
Taro,  who  should  have  lived  to  make  his 
daily  and  yearly  offerings  at  his  parents' 
shrine,  was  coming  to  them  to-night,  a 
spirit,  to  receive  from  them  the  comfort  and 
love  that  was  all  the  happiness  earth  could 
offer  him  now !  As  she  worked  through 
the  hot  August  morning,  her  heart  was 
sore  and  sad,  and  there  seemed  no  hope 
ahead  for  her  and  Gunkichi,  her  old  hus 
band.  Lonely  they  must  live  on  until 
death  came,  and  lonely  must  their  spirits 

IN   THE   LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


be  forever,  for  no  descendants  would  offer        5 
to  them  the  affection  and  the  daily  gifts 
that  disembodied  spirits  crave. 

She  stood  now  on  the  edge  of  her  little 
piazza,  and  looked  down  the  length  of  the 
village  street.  A  small  white  flag,  in  its 
centre  a  blood-red  sun,  drooped  idly  from 
its  slender  bamboo  staff  before  the  house. 
A  great  gray  monkey,  chained  to  a  tree 
across  the  road,  woke  from  his  noonday 
doze  to  blink  at  her  sleepily,  then  closed 
his  eyes  and  humped  himself  once  more 
into  a  fluffy  ball.  The  heated  air  wavered 
above  the  dusty  road  until  the  shops  and 
hotels  on  each  side  of  it  seemed  to  shim 
mer  and  shake  like  the  background  of  a 
moving  picture.  And  —  still  like  a  moving 
picture  —  there  came  directly  toward  her 
the  figure  of  a  woman,  wavering,  almost 
staggering,  under  the  heat  of  the  August 
sun  and  the  weight  of  a  heavy  baby  tied  to 
her  back.  The  village  lay  quiet,  asleep  or 
preoccupied  with  its  own  discomfort,  while 
the  woman  toiled  on  toward  O  Kimi  San's 

THE  FAVOR  OF  HACHIMAN 


6  little  rest-house.  It  was  a  tiny,  thatched, 
open-fronted  cottage,  just  beyond  the  vil 
lage,  and  almost  overhanging  the  moun 
tain  gorge  along  which  the  road  was  built. 
It  was  cool  and  fresh  with  the  foam  of 
the  torrent  far  below,  and  in  the  shadow 
of  a  wooded  rocky  peak  that  towered 
above. 

O  Kimi  San  shaded  her  eyes  with  her 
hand  as  she  looked  into  the  shimmer 
ing  glare  at  the  small  burdened  figure. 
Her  kindly  old  face,  seamed  and  criss 
crossed  with  the  wrinkles  of  a  hard  life, 
grew  sympathetic.  The  traveler,  as  she 
came  into  the  shade  of  the  Tengu  Rock, 
breathed  a  deep  sigh,  and  with  a  hitch  of 
her  shoulders  tilted  the  baby  into  a  more 
comfortable  position.  O  Kimi,  from  the 
little  matted  platform  that  was  the  floor 
of  her  house,  called  out  hospitably  to  the 
newcomer,  — 

"  It  is  very  hot !  Come  in  and  rest  a  little ; 
you  must  be  tired. " 

The  mother  looked  up  doubtfully  and 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


shook  her  head.    "  Thank  you,"  she  said  ;        7 
"  it  is  hot,  but  I  must  go  on.   I  must  reach 
Shio  no  Yu  to-night;"  and  she  struggled 
forward. 

But  O  Kimi's  kindly  soul  was  not  con 
tent  with  such  refusal.  She  slipped  from 
the  platform  into  her  sandals  lying  ready 
on  the  earth  below,  and  followed  the  trav 
eler. 

"  Come  in,"  she  said ;  "  please  come,  for 
the  baby's  sake  if  not  for  your  own.  You 
cannot  see  how  red  and  hot  he  is.  He  will 
be  sick  if  you  carry  him  farther  in  this 
heat.  Wait  here  with  me  until  it 's  cooler. 
You  can  get  to  Shio  no  Yu  if  you  start  by 
four  o'clock.  The  moon  is  full,  and  you  can 
walk  late."  O  Kimi  fairly  dragged  the  little 
woman  back  with  her  to  the  house,  her 
tired  visitor  demurring  faintly.  "  Now  sit 
down  here  and  untie  the  baby,  and  I  will 
take  him.  Then  you  can  rest  your  poor 
tired  feet  with  some  of  that  hot  water  over 
there;"  and  O  Kimi  pointed  to  a  steaming, 
dripping  pipe  creeping  along  the  perpen- 

THE  FAVOR  OF  HACHIMAN 


8  dicular  upper  edge  of  the  road,1  under 
which  tubs  were  set  to  catch  the  leakage. 

The  tired  little  mother,  in  a  paroxysm 
of  thanks  and  expostulations,  gave  herself 
up  to  the  kindly  solicitude  of  her  hostess. 
She  sat  obediently  down  on  the  tiny,  pol 
ished  piazza,  and  untied  the  band  which 
held  the  heavy  baby  to  her.  O  Kimi  took 
him  in  her  arms,  hugged  him  for  a  moment 
to  her  wrinkled  breast,  then  laid  him  down 
and  watched  him  with  greedy  eyes  while 
his  mother  was  washing  her  face  and  arms 
and  blistered  feet  in  the  steaming  hot 
water  across  the  way. 

"  When  he  wakes  he  shall  have  a  bath 
too,"  said  the  old  woman,  as  the  mother, 
refreshed,  came  and  took  her  seat  on  the 
soft  mats  of  the  little  house  ;  "  but  now  you 
must  have  some  tea  and  a  fan,  and  then, 
when  you  are  rested,  tell  me  something 
about  yourself,  and  why  you  are  traveling 
all  alone  this  way  with  your  baby." 

1  The  pipe  led  the  water  from  hot  springs  to  the 
baths  in  the  village. 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


O  Kimi  bustled  off  to  her  kitchen,  and  9 
soon  came  back  with  tea  and  cake.  Then 
she  disappeared  again,  and  after  a  longer 
time  brought  in  a  second  tray  with  rice- 
bowl,  pickles,  fish,  and  iced  vermicelli,  all 
as  daintily  served  as  the  Empress  herself 
could  have  wished.  "It  is  a  poor  meal," 
she  said,  with  formal  self-depreciation. 
"  My  husband  caught  the  trout  in  the  river 
this  morning,  and  the  vermicelli  is  but  the 
O  Bon  fare.  I  am  sorry  that  I  have  nothing 
better  to  offer  you ; "  and  she  bowed  low 
as  she  set  the  tray  before  her  guest. 

But  though  the  food  was  dainty,  though 
O  Kimi  San  offered  new  helpings  of  rice 
from  the  brass-bound  wooden  bucket  with 
insistent  hospitality,  the  traveler  was  too 
tired  to  eat.  She  played  with  her  chop 
sticks  and  commented  with  enthusiastic 
politeness  on  the  delicacies  set  before  her, 
but  could  hardly  choke  down  the  last  of 
the  rice  in  her  bowl,  —  an  act  which  eti 
quette  and  religion  both  required  of  her,  — 
and  the  fish  and  vermicelli  were  left  almost 

THE  FAVOR  OF  HACHIMAN 


io  untouched.  Her  face  was  pale,  and  under 
her  eyes  were  blue  rings.  Every  move 
ment  of  the  visitor  showed  that  she  needed 
rest  more  than  food.  O  Kimi's  sympa 
thetic  heart  went  out  to  the  poor  stran 
ger. 

"  Here,"  she  said,  "  lie  down  beside  your 
baby,  and  I  will  hang  my  large  mosquito- 
net,  and  you  can  sleep  awhile  before  you 
go  on.  You  are  too  tired  to  move  yet." 
With  gentle  insistence  she  gained  her  point. 
The  tired  mother  lay  down  on  the  mat 
beside  her  sleeping  baby,  and  the  great 
green  linen  mosquito-netting,  hung  from 
the  four  corners  of  the  room,  shut  out  the 
hard  things  of  life  for  a  space,  leaving  the 
wanderers  to  the  ministration  of  the  green 
coolness,  the  soft  air,  the  murmur  and  rush 
of  the  torrent  far  below  them. 

O  Kimi  San  continued  with  her  house 
hold  tasks.  She  carried  out  her  dishes  and 
trays  and  rice-bucket  to  the  kitchen,  she 
swept  the  road  in  front  of  the  house,  and 
watered  it  with  a  dipper  from  a  wooden 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


pail.  She  filled  the  kettle  with  fresh  spring  n 
water,  and  arranged  the  bits  of  charcoal 
in  the  fire  so  that  they  should  concentrate 
their  heat  at  the  precise  centre  of  the 
kettle's  bottom.  Then  she  went  back  to  her 
guests  who  were  sleeping  under  the  mos 
quito-net,  just  as  the  baby  opened  his  eyes 
and  began  to  whimper.  O  Kimi  went 
down  on  her  knees  and  gathered  him  to  her 
longing  heart.  "  Botchan,"  Jshe  whispered, 
and  cuddled  him  and  talked  to  him  in  the 
soft  baby  language  until  his  little  hand 
stole  into  her  bosom,  and  he  began  to  chat 
ter  in  reply  like  a  sparrow,  looking  up  into 
her  eyes  and  laughing  with  quaint  baby 
humor.  He  was  a  fat,  sturdy,  red-cheeked 
boy  of  three,  who  trotted  about  the  matted 
floor  on  chubby  brown  feet,  and  laughed 
and  danced  when  O  Kimi  brought  him  a 
bowl  of  rice.  She  fed  him  with  chopsticks, 
he  sitting  on  his  heels  facing  her  solemnly 
with  open  mouth  like  a  young  bird,  and 

1  Literally,  "  Little  Mr.  Priest,"  the  universal  title  of 
the  small  boy,  probably  on  account  of  his  shaven  head. 

THE  FAVOR  OF  HACHIMAN 


12  closing  mouth  and  eyes  ecstatically  when 
the  chopsticks,  like  the  old  bird's  beak, 
pushed  the  food  between  his  lips. 

When  the  tired  mother  waked  at  last,  O 
Kimi  and  the  boy  were  great  friends.  She 
had  brought  a  tub  of  hot  water  from  the 
pipe  across  the  road,  and  was  taking  off  his 
scanty  clothing  in  preparation  for  the  pro 
mised  bath.  He  wore  only  a  little  cotton 
kimono,  with  a  diamond-shaped  apron  of 
many-colored  to  chirimen^  or  woolen  crape, 
beneath.  Undressing  was  a  small  affair, 
and  soon  Botchan  was  sitting  in  the  wooden 
tub,  splashing  and  chattering  like  a  young 
duck. 

"  Such  a  boy  ! "  said  O  Kimi  San  to  the 
mother,  who  was  sitting  up  now,  watching 
the  operations  of  her  hostess.  "  He  is  so 
like  my  son.  It  makes  me  happy  to  have 
him  near  me." 

"  And  your  son  —  where  is  he  ?  "  asked 
the  visitor. 

O  Kimi  San  looked  straight  ahead  of  her 
and  spoke  very  softly :  "  My  son  has  had  the 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


great  honor  to  give  himself  to  the  Emperor.      13 
Alas !  we  must  light  the  O  Bon  lanterns 
for   him   to-night" —    Her  voice   broke, 
and  she  hid  her  face  behind  her  sleeve. 

The  visitor  bowed  low.  "  It  is  sad,  and 
my  heart  is  grieved  for  you,"  she  said. 
"  To  my  husband,  too,  has  come  such  honor. 
He  went  down  in  the  Sakura  Maru  at  Port 
Arthur,  and  even  his  body  was  not  found. 
His  spirit,  they  say,  is  in  the  Shokonsha,1 
but"  — 

The  elder  woman  bowed  in  her  turn  in 
the  presence  of  a  grief  so  like  her  own, 
and  there  was  silence  for  a  space.  At  last 
she  said  softly,  "  How  is  my  heart  grieved 
with  your  sorrow ; "  then,  her  eye  resting 
on  Botchan,  who  was  squatting  now  beside 
his  mother,  looking  with  wondering  eyes  at 
his  elders,  she  added  comfortingly,  "  But 
your  boy  will  grow  up  to  care  for  you, 
and  to  preserve  his  father's  memory." 

1  Literally,  "  Spirit-Invoking  Temple  "  at  Tokyo, 
whither  the  spirits  of  soldiers  who  die  in  battle  return, 
and  where  they  live  and  receive  the  honor  and  offer 
ings  of  their  grateful  compatriots. 

THE  FAVOR  OF  HACHIMAN 


14  The  visitor  bowed  again.  "  True,  he  will 
care  for  me  when  he  is  grown,  but  how 
shall  I  care  for  him  until  he  is  grown  ?  I 
am  going  now  to  my  husband's  brother  in 
Shio  no  Yu,  but  he  is  poor,  and  has  many 
boys  of  his  own,  and  I  do  not  know  whether 
he  will  receive  me."  The  woman's  voice 
trembled,  and  she  stopped  for  a  moment, 
then  went  on  in  the  curious,  even  tone 
which  in  a  Japanese  woman  betrays  deep 
emotion.  "When  my  husband  went,  he 
said  to  me,  '  Suzu,  I  shall  probably  die  for 
my  country.  You  must  not  mourn,  you 
must  be  glad,  and  must  teach  the  boy  to  be 
glad  that  his  father  had  so  great  honor.' 
And  when  I  said,  '  Oh,  Yofu,  how  can  I  be 
glad  ?  How  can  I  live  ?  I  must  kill  my 
self  if  you  are  killed,'  he  answered,  'To 
kill  yourself  would  not  be  brave  or  wise,  if 
by  so  doing  you  should  leave  our  boy  to 
starve.  If  I  die,  you  must  live  and  make  a 
brave  man  of  him.'  So  I  have  lived,  but  it 
is  hard  for  me.  And  Botchan  is  a  brave 
boy,  —  so  brave  and  so  strong.  All  this 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


morning  as  we  came  up  from  Nishi  Nasuno,  1 5 
he  walked  by  my  side,  his  little  hand  in 
mine.  Sometimes  he  would  stumble  and 
almost  fall,  and  I  would  say,  '  Botchan  is 
tired,  let  mamma  carry  him,'  but  it  was 
always,  '  Botchan  is  very  strong.  Mamma 
is  tired.'  At  noon  we  stopped  to  eat  our 
lunch,  and  when  I  looked  at  his  feet  they 
were  all  blistered.  I  washed  them  in  cold 
water  as  we  sat  beside  the  road,  but  when 
we  started  out  again  he  could  not  walk. 
That  is  why  I  carried  him.  Yes,  Botchan 
is  a  soldier's  son,  and  he  will  be  a  brave 
man." 

Suzu  hugged  the  stolid,  chubby  baby 
sitting  so  solemnly  beside  her,  until  he  gig 
gled  and  shouted  with  delight.  "  And  now, 
if  indeed  it  must  be,  we  will  go,  for  I  must 
reach  Shio  no  Yu  to-night,"  and  Suzu 
bowed  her  farewell  to  O  Kimi  with  many 
expressions  of  gratitude  for  her  kindness, 
while  Botchan  gravely  imitated  her  pros 
trations. 

"  Can't  you  stay  here  with  me  to-night  ?  " 

THE  FAVOR  OF  HACHIMAN 


1 6  protested  O  Kimi.  "  There  is  a  storm  com 
ing.  You  should  not  try  to  brave  a  storm 
with  that  baby."  But  Suzu  was  set  on  her 
plan,  and  with  a  final  hug  of  Botchan  as 
she  tied  him  to  his  mother's  back,  O  Kimi 
set  them  forth  upon  the  road. 

"  Cross  the  river  about  a  mile  above 
here  where  you  see  a  little  bridge,  then 
follow  the  road  to  the  left,  and  Shio  no 
Yu  is  about  four  miles  away." 

Suzu  bowed  and  smiled,  and  O  Kimi 
went  back  to  her  little  house,  lonelier  than 
ever  for  the  baby's  visit. 

There  was  a  muttering  of  thunder  from 
the  hills  above,  a  darkness  and  stifling 
stillness  in  the  air.  O  Kimi  looked  out  un 
easily.  "It  is  time  Gunkichi  was  back," 
she  said.  "  He  has  been  gone  all  day.  If 
he  gets  caught  across  the  river,  and  the 
storm  comes,  how  will  he  get  home  ?  "  But 
as  she  was  bringing  her  vague  fears  to  a 
point  by  speech,  there  was  a  light  pat-pat 
of  sandals  along  the  road,  and  Gunkichi, 
wrinkled  and  smiling,  with  a  great  bundle 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


of  sprawling,  straggling  roots   upon   his      17 
back,  hailed  his  old  wife  with  a  cheerful 
greeting. 

"  It 's  very  hot,"  he  said,  as  he  dipped 
his  towel  into  the  hot  water  and  washed 
the  streaming  perspiration  from  his  face 
and  arms  and  bare  brown  legs  and  feet, 
"  but  we  are  going  to  have  a  great  storm, 
and  then  it  will  be  cool."  He  laughed  and 
chattered,  partly  to  himself,  partly  to  his 
wife,  and  partly  to  the  great  gray  monkey 
perched  on  the  tree  above  him.  "  Heh ! 
Mr.  Monkey,"  he  said,  "  you  are  so  lazy 
this  hot  weather  that  you  don't  care  for 
anything.  Heh  !  Mr.  Monkey,  wake  up  ! " 
He  poked  at  the  humpy  fur  ball  until  it 
turned  its  red  face,  grown  redder  with 
rage,  toward  him  and  chattered  viciously. 
"  Now  you  are  awake  at  last,  and  I  will 
give  you  something.  Here,  mother,  will 
you  hand  me  a  cracker  for  Mr.  Monkey  ?  " 

O  Kimi  laughed,  and  brought  him  a 
toasted  rice  cracker.  "  Gunkichi,"  she  said, 
"I  believe  you  try  to  be  a  boy  just  to 

THE  FAVOR  OF  HACHIMAN 


1 8  comfort  me;"  and  she  looked  at  him  affec 
tionately,  but  with  tears  in  her  eyes. 

Gunkichi  said  nothing.  He  was  ap 
parently  absorbed  in  watching  the  mon 
key,  who  was  meditatively  crunching  the 
cracker.  When  he  turned  again  he  cleared 
his  throat  a  little  before  he  went  on  to  tell 
O  Kimi  of  his  day's  successes. 

Such  a  day  as  it  had  been !  He  had 
climbed  the  Tengu  Rock  and  worshiped 
at  the  little  shrine  of  Hachiman,  the  war- 
god,  on  its  top,  and  seen  the  great  black 
snake  who  lies  always  coiled  up  within  the 
shrine  except  when  the  god  sends  him  forth 
with  his  messages.  Then  he  had  set  out  in 
search  of  roots  suitable  for  his  use.  For 
Gunkichi  was  an  artist  in  roots.  His  little 
shop  beside  O  Kimi's  kitchen  was  filled 
with  strange  productions  of  his  fancy.  By 
smoothing  here  and  hollowing  there,  by 
cunningly  reinforcing  and  adding  in  an 
other  place,  by  a  spot  of  red  or  black  or 
white  paint  judiciously  applied,  Gunkichi 
would  evolve  from  the  most  hopeless-look- 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


ing  roots  and  snags  griffins,  tengus,  devils,  19 
monsters  of  all  sorts,  which  found  a  ready 
sale  among  the  summer  visitors  at  the  hot 
baths  in  the  village.  As  he  opened  his 
bundle  and  drew  out  his  new-found  trea 
sures  one  by  one,  he  discoursed  eloquently 
on  the  wonderful  things  that  they  would 
become  in  his  hands. 

"  Look,  mother,  this  will  make  a  grand 
dragon ! "  He  pulled  a  long  twisted  root 
with  many  branches  from  the  heap  in 
front  of  him.  "  Here  is  his  head  now,  with 
horns  and  wide-open  mouth.  I  will  paint 
his  mouth  red,  and  give  him  two  great 
white  eyes.  Then  when  I  have  soaked  his 
long  body  in  the  hot  water,  and  coiled  it 
about,  these  branches  will  make  his  legs, 
and  this  long  slender  one  his  tail.  Perhaps 
some  of  the  Tokyo  people  will  buy  it.  I 
wish  the  Emperor  could  see  it !  I  'd  give 
it  to  him  if  I  could." 

He  stopped,  abashed  by  the  temerity 
into  which  his  enthusiasm  had  led  him,  and 
added  humbly,  "  But  of  course  it  would 

THE  FAVOR  OF  HACHIMAN 


2O      not  be  worthy,"   and  bowed  low  at  the 
name  that  he  had  invoked. 

"Father,  you  have  given  to  the  Em 
peror  the  only  thing  you  had  to  give." 
There  was  a  pride,  carefully  veiled,  in  O 
Kimi's  voice.  Gunkichi,  who  had  by  this 
time  slipped  out  of  his  sandals  and  seated 
himself  on  the  mats,  turned  his  head  aside 
and  vigorously  rubbed  his  face  with  his 
blue-and-white  towel. 

Just  then  the  storm  broke.  With  vivid 
lightning,  a  crash  of  thunder,  and  the  roar 
ing  as  of  a  waterspout,  it  rushed  down  the 
mountain  gorge.  O  Kimi  San  drew  the 
outer  rain-doors  of  the  house,  sliding  them 
along  their  grooves  on  a  full  run.  The 
monkey,  a  moment  before  a  motionless 
ball  of  gray  fur  on  the  top  of  his  perch,  scut 
tled  down,  with  much  angry  chattering  and 
rattling  of  his  chain,  into  his  little  house. 
They  were  none  too  soon,  for  the  rain,  like 
a  solid  column  of  water,  was  rushing  and 
swirling  about  them,  the  river  foaming 
and  roaring  beneath,  almost  before  O  Kimi 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


and  Gunkichi  could  fasten  the  house  se-      21 
curely.    Then  O  Kimi  stirred   about  the 
kitchen  preparing  supper,  while  Gunkichi 
smoked  thoughtfully  in  the  shuttered  twi 
light  of  the  little  guest-room. 

As  O  Kimi  brought  in  the  tray  and  the 
rice-bucket,  she  suddenly  bethought  her 
self  of  her  visitor.  "  Ma ! "  she  exclaimed. 
"  Poor  Suzu !  I  wonder  where  she  is 
now!" 

"What  Suzu?"  asked  Gunkichi. 

Then  Kimi  told  him  all  the  story  of  her 
afternoon,  and  of  how  Suzu  had  left  the 
house  only  just  before  he  came  home. 

"  If  she  got  across  the  bridge  before  the 
storm  came,  she  will  be  safe,"  said  Gun 
kichi  ;  "  but  if  she  tries  to  cross  it  in  the 
storm,  she  may  be  carried  away  with  it." 

There  was  nothing  to  be  done.  Supper 
cleared  away,  the  old  couple  sat  and  talked. 
Once  or  twice  O  Kimi  tried  to  light  the  O 
Bon  lanterns,  but  with  a  swirl  and  a  rush 
the  wind  blowing  through  the  funnel-like 
gorge  extinguished  them  each  time.  She 

THE  FAVOR  OF  HACHIMAN 


22  was  perturbed,  and  a  look  of  fear  came  into 
her  eyes,  a  wail  into  her  voice.  "  It  will  be 
dark  for  him,  and  he  will  think  we  have 
forgotten  him!  Gunkichi,  what  shall  we 
do?" 

Gunkichi  answered  her  gently,  "  Our 
Taro  knows  we  would  not  forget  him.  He 
knows  that  we  would  light  the  lanterns  for 
him  if  we  could,  but  the  wind-gods  will  not 
let  us.  You  have  set  the  food  and  trimmed 
the  light  before  the  spirit  altar.  He  has 
been  away  so  short  a  time,  he  cannot  lose 
his  way  home,  even  if  there  is  no  light 
outside." 

"  If  I  could  only  open  the  amado  a  crack 
so  that  he  could  come  through,"  O  Kimi 
moaned,  and  pushed  the  shutter  aside  a 
little.  But  the  howling  wind  filled  the 
house,  and  shook  the  flimsy  structure  as  a 
terrier  shakes  a  rat.  Both  tugged  together 
to  close  the  door  again,  and  then  sat  down 
in  the  darkness,  for  the  wind  had  put  out 
their  light.  Only  the  tiny  lamp  before  the 
spirit  altar  continued  to  burn.  It  flickered 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


in  the  searching  wind,  and  threw  strange      23 
creeping  shadows  on  the  walls. 

And  then  there  came  a  cry,  a  wail  of 
terror  from  the  stream  below.  Gunkichi 
started  up.  "What's  that?  Some  one  is  in 
trouble  in  the  river ! "  He  threw  open  the 
amado,  and  the  wind  and  rain  nearly  took 
his  breath  away.  He  felt  the  road  with  his 
bare  foot.  It  was  a  running  torrent,  but  he 
stepped  in,  and  out  from  the  shelter  of  the 
roof.  The  wind  took  him  and  pinned  him 
fast  against  a  rock,  while  the  pouring  rain 
nearly  drowned  him.  He  could  see  the 
river  by  the  pale  light  of  the  full  moon 
behind  the  clouds.  It  was  boiling  white 
among  the  great  black  rocks  far  below, 
and  he  knew  that  to  reach  its  level  in  the 
wind  and  rain  would  be  useless.  Spent  and 
water-soaked,  he  crawled  back  at  last  to 
the  house. 

All  night  the  wind  blew,  the  thunder 
roared,  and  the  rain  fell  in  torrents ;  but 
when  morning  came  the  clouds  cleared 
away,  the  wind  blew  fair,  the  sun  shone, 

THE  FAVOR  OF  HACH1MAN 


24  and  every  rock  and  leaf  and  twig  seemed 
new-created  after  the  storm. 

Gunkichi  started  out  early,  to  go  up  the 
river  and  see  what  had  happened  in  the 
night.  "  If  I  can  get  across,  I  will  go  to 
Shio  no  Yu  and  see  if  Suzu  reached  there 
safely,"  he  said,  as  he  tied  on  his  san 
dals. 

O  Kimi  set  about  her  household  tasks. 
She  was  thinking  a  great  deal  about  her 
own  Taro,  and  then,  again,  of  Suzu  and 
her  little  Botchan.  Her  heart  ached  to 
hold  the  chubby  baby  form  close  to  her 
breast,  to  put  food  between  the  soft  baby 
lips,  to  hear  the  cooing  baby  voice ;  and 
somehow  Taro  and  Botchan  seemed  to 
mingle  in  her  mind  until  she  felt  that 
yesterday  she  had  held  her  own  boy  in  her 
arms,  and  then  had  sent  him  away  into 
the  storm  with  an  unknown  woman. 

She  was  sitting  at  her  sewing,  looking 
from  time  to  time  out  into  the  road,  her 
eyes  dim  and  misty,  and  with  an  occasional 
tear  dropping  upon  the  blue  cotton  of  Gun- 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


kichi's  new  blouse.  Did  she  see  aright,  or  25 
was  that  mist  before  her  eyes  deceiving 
her  ?  There  was  a  great  black  snake  glid 
ing  down  the  road !  She  rubbed  her  eyes 
and  looked.  Never  had  she  seen  such  a 
snake.  He  was  eight  feet  long  or  more,  and 
of  ample  girth,  and  his  black,  scaly  body 
glistened  in  the  sunshine.  He  came  on 
to  the  little  rest-house,  and  paused  before 
it,  lifted  his  head,  and  waved  it  back  and 
forth,  raising  it  higher  and  higher  until  his 
gleaming  eyes  looked  over  the  edge  of  the 
piazza  right  at  O  Kimi  San. 

"It  is  the  messenger  of  Hachiman," 
whispered  O  Kimi,  and  prostrated  herself 
in  reverence,  face  down  upon  the  mats. 
She  raised  her  head,  the  snake  was  still 
looking  at  her.  Again  she  bowed,  and 
when  she  looked  up  there  was  still  that 
shining  waving  head  with  the  glittering 
eyes  fixed  full  upon  her.  Once  more  O 
Kimi  bowed  low,  and  in  her  heart  was  a 
prayer  to  Hachiman  that  he  would  call  his 
dread  messenger  back  to  his  shrine.  When 

THE  FAVOR  OF  HACHIMAN 


26  she  lifted  her  head,  no  snake  was  there,  but 
there  was  a  slight  rustle  on  the  side  of  the 
Tengu  Rock,  and  O  Kimi  knew  that  her 
petition  had  been  answered. 

"  Did  he  send  a  message  to  me  ? "  she 
thought.  And  then,  in  spite  of  her  grief 
and  perturbation,  she  laughed  at  the  au 
dacity  of  her  question.  "  Of  course  he  had 
no  message  for  me.  I  am  too  low  a  per 
son  to  have  a  message  from  a  god."  She 
went  back  to  her  sewing,  her  hand  shaking 
a  little  and  her  eyes  dimmer  than  ever. 
Presently  she  looked  up,  brushing  her 
hand  across  her  eyes  as  she  did  so.  Would 
wonders  never  cease?  What  was  coming 
along  the  road  now? 

He  looked  very  small,  and  very  fat, 
and  very  bullet-headed,  as  he  walked  non 
chalantly  along  against  a  background  of 
towering  cliffs,  waving  trees,  and  blue,  white- 
flecked  sky.  He  was  dressed  in  a  small 
diamond  of  bright-colored  cloth  tied  over 
his  fat  stomach,  and  he  carried  in  one  hand 
a  stick,  while  the  other  was  crumpled  tightly 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


about  a  struggling,  gauzy  insect.  When  he  27 
saw  the  rest-house  standing  by  the  road 
he  crowed  merrily,  and  hastened  his  steps. 
O  Kimi  could  hardly  believe  her  eyes.  It 
was  Suzu's  Botchan  coming  back  to  her  1 
All  the  love  and  longing  of  her  bereaved 
soul  went  out  to  the  brave  baby  marching 
serenely  toward  her. 

"O  kaeri!"1  she  called  out,  afraid  that  he 
might  go  by  her  and  out  of  her  life  again. 
The  baby  stopped  at  the  familiar  voice, 
stood  motionless  a  moment  regarding  her, 
then  bowed  solemnly  and  nearly  double. 

"Tadaima," 2  he  responded  gravely,  then 
toddled  toward  her  holding  out  his  dou 
bled  fist,  in  which  was  firmly  clenched  a 
dragon-fly.  "My  horse,"  he  explained 
cheerfully.  "  If  I  had  a  long  thread,  I  would 
harness  him."  He  caracoled  ponderously 
on  his  small  chubby  feet.  "  I  am  a  soldier 
just  come  home  from  the  war !  " 

1  "  Honorable  return,"  the  greeting  to  a  returning 
guest  or  member  of  the  household. 

2  "  Just  now,"  the  conventional  reply  to  the  greeting. 

THE  FAVOR  OF  HACHIMAN 


28  "  Mamma's  soldier  boy  ! "  said  O  Kimi 
in  a  rapture.  "  Come  in,  and  we  will  tie  up 
the  horse  and  give  the  soldier  some  rice." 

She  seized  him  in  her  arms  and  hugged 
him,  then  carried  him  across  the  way  to 
the  hot  water  pipe,  where  she  washed  the 
mud  from  his  little  bare  feet  before  setting 
him  down  on  her  clean  mats. 

He  pointed  with  delight  to  the  rude  sem 
blances  of  animals  before  the  spirit  altar. 
"  Taro's  horses ! "  he  shouted,  and  clapped 
his  chubby  hands. 

O  Kimi  looked  at  him  with  a  curious 
awe.  How  could  he  know  that  those 
things  were  set  out  for  her  Taro's  spirit  ? 
He  was  such  a  baby,  he  could  not  have 
listened  to  their  talk  of  yesterday.  She 
questioned  him:  "Where  did  you  come 
from,  Botchan  ?  Where  is  mamma?  " 

He  looked  at  her,  puzzled.  "You  are 
mamma,"  he  said.  "  Taro  come  home  from 
war." 

She  spoke  very  gently,  half  afraid  at  his 
strangeness.  "But,  Botchan,  don't  you 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


remember  mamma,  who  brought  you  here      29 
yesterday  ?  Where  is  she  ?  " 

His  baby  face  quivered,  and  he  looked 
woebegone  at  her  obtuseness.  "  Taro  can't 
remember  yesterday,"  he  whimpered ; 
"  Taro  come  home  to  mamma. " 

O  Kimi  hugged  him  close.  "  Never  mind, 
Botchan,"  she  said ;  "  sit  here  a  minute  and 
grandma  will  get  you  some  breakfast." 

"  Not  grandma,  mamma,"  insisted 
Botchan,  his  round  mouth  puckering. 

"  Kimi !  Kimi ! "  sounded  Gunkichi's 
voice  up  the  road.  O  Kimi  slipped  into 
her  sandals,  and  ran  to  him  as  he  came 
toward  her  on  a  trot.  He  was  breathless 
with  excitement.  "  O  Suzu  San's  body 
is  on  the  rocks,  way  down  below  the 
bridge  1  She  must  have  tried  to  cross  after 
the  storm  broke  ! " 

"Poor  thing!  Poor  thing!"  wailed  O 
Kimi.  "  I  should  never  have  let  her  go ! 
And  now  Botchan  "  — 

"Botchan  must  have  been  drowned 
too,"  interrupted  Gunkichi,  anxious  to  tell 

THE  FAVOR  OF  HACHIMAN 


30  all  he  knew.  "  His  dress  was  still  tied  fast 
to  his  mother's  back;  so  he  fell  and  went 
down  with  her,  that  is  certain.  Then  he 
was  washed  down  by  the  current.  Poor 
baby !  They  will  find  his  body  farther  down 
the  stream." 

"Father,"  said  O  Kimi  in  an  awe- 
stricken  voice,  "  the  baby  is  in  our  house. 
I  was  getting  him  some  rice  when  you 
called  me." 

"Impossible,  Kimi.  If  he  went  down 
with  his  mother,  he  must  surely  have  been 
drowned.  Why,  she  was  held  fast,  head 
downward  against  a  rock,  and  both  must 
have  been  drowned  as  they  fell." 

"  Gunkichi,"  —  O  Kimi's  voice  was  low 
and  solemn,  —  "  there  is  something  very 
strange  that  I  must  tell  you  before  we  go 
back  and  look  at  the  baby.  Sit  down  here 
and  cool  yourself,  and  listen." 

They  sat  down  at  the  edge  of  the  road, 
out  of  sight  of  the  little  house,  while  O 
Kimi  told  her  story.  She  told  of  Hachi- 
man's  messenger,  and  of  how  he  stopped 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


and  looked  at  her,  and  how  she  bowed  31 
three  times  and  asked  Hachiman  to  take 
him  away.  "I  think,  Gunkichi,  that  he 
really  brought  a  message,  and  that  Hachi 
man  was  pleased  with  your  visit  yesterday 
to  his  shrine.  For  then  the  baby  came,  and 
what  do  you  think  he  had  in  his  hand  ?  A 
dragon-fly !  and  he  said  it  was  his  horse  ! " 

Gunkichi  sat  up,  excited.  "I  have  heard 
that  dragon-flies  are  horses'  spirits ! "  he 
said. 

"That  is  one  of  the  strange  things," 
answered  O  Kimi;  "and  then  he  told  me 
he  was  a  soldier  just  come  home  from  the 
war.  I  thought  he  was  playing,  and 
played  with  him,  but  when  I  brought  him 
into  the  house,  he  went  right  to  the  spirit 
altar,  and  when  he  saw  the  animals 
he  clapped  his  hands  and  said,  'Taro's 
horses ! '  Then  I  began  to  wonder.  How 
did  he  know  about  Taro?  How  did  he 
know  those  things  were  set  out  for  him  ? 
So  then  I  questioned  him  about  his  mother, 
and  he  said  I  was  his  mother.  He  could  n't 

THE  FAVOR  OF  HACHIMAN 


32  remember  yesterday,  only  that  he  was  a 
soldier  just  come  back  from  the  war.  He 
nearly  cried  when  I  called  myself  grandma. 
*  Not  grandma,  mamma,'  he  insisted.  Gun- 
kichi,  what  does  it  all  mean  ?  You  say  that 
the  child  was  surely  drowned,  but  he  is 
here,  or  rather,  his  body  is  here,  but  his 
spirit  is  changed.  Hachiman  has  sent  us 
back  our  Taro.  He  gave  his  body  in  the 
war,  and  now  Hachiman  has  let  him  enter 
a  new  body  so  that  he  could  comfort  us." 
Gunkichi  was  doubtful.  He  had  heard 
that  such  things  used  to  happen,  but  every 
instance  that  he  had  ever  heard  of  was  at 
least  a  hundred  years  old.  Things  were 
different  in  those  days.  This  was  Meiji, 
the  Era  of  Enlightenment,  and  though 
strange  things  were  still  happening  daily, 
they  were  not  of  just  this  kind.  There 
were  two  persons  who  must  be  consulted 
before  they  could  be  quite  sure  what  to 
do.  One  was  the  policeman  at  the  far 
end  of  the  village,  the  other  was  the  parish 
priest. 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


He  explained  this  to  O  Kimi,  in  whose  33 
mind  no  shadow  of  doubt  now  existed,  and 
while  she  hastened  home  to  feed  and  fondle 
her  baby,  he  walked  along  to  the  police 
station.  There,  after  bowing  low  and  of 
fering  many  polite  excuses  for  troubling 
his  excellency,  he  told  the  whole  story  to 
the  dignified  little  man  in  his  white,  new- 
style  uniform.  The  policeman  listened  with 
interest,  making  notes  the  while  in  his  little 
book.  Then  he  sallied  forth,  taking  with 
him  Gunkichi  and  a  number  of  the  vil 
lagers,  to  study  the  situation.  Poor  Suzu's 
body  was  first  recovered,  and  the  opinion 
of  the  villagers,  indorsed  by  the  police 
man,  was  that  the  baby  must  have  fallen 
with  his  mother,  and  been  washed  out  of 
his  lashings  and  his  kimono  in  the  boiling 
current.  How  he  could  have  lived  through 
it,  no  one  could  understand. 

"And   may   we   keep   the  baby,   your 
honor?"  said  Gunkichi  appealingly. 

"If,  when  I  have  investigated,  I  find 
that  the  brother  at  Shio  no  Yu  does  not 

THE  FAVOR  OF  HACHIMAN 


34     want  him,  I  think  you  can  keep  him,"  was 
the  guarded  reply. 

With  many  bows  of  deep  respect,  and 
effusive  thanks  for  the  hope  held  forth, 
Gunkichi  parted  from  the  officer,  and  took 
his  way  toward  the  village  temple.  It  was 
a  great,  old,  shabby  sanctuary,  with  wide- 
eaved  curving  roof  of  blackened  thatch, 
and  two  stone  statues  of  Jizo,  buried  almost 
to  the  eyes  in  pebbles,  sitting  in  mild  seren 
ity  outside  the  gate.  Gunkichi  stooped  and 
threw  a  stone  to  each  as  he  passed  in,  mur 
muring  a  prayer  to  the  gentle  guardian 
of  the  children's  ghosts,  and  thinking  the 
while  of  the  poor  baby's  spirit,  wandering 
beside  the  river  of  death.  He  stood  beside 
the  veranda  of  the  priest's  house  that  ad 
joined  the  temple,  and  lifted  up  his  voice 
in  the  polite  "Excuse  me  for  troubling 
you,"  that  announces  the  presence  of  a 
guest.  The  old  priest  came  himself  to  greet 
him  and  bid  him  come  in.  Gunkichi  bowed 
and  bowed,  but  remained  humbly  with 
out,  and  told  once  more  his  story.  It  was 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


spiritual  enlightenment  that  he  wanted.  35 
Might  he  and  O  Kimi  believe  that  their 
Taro's  spirit,  coming  that  first  night  of  the 
Feast  of  the  Dead  to  visit  his  parents,  had 
found  the  baby's  body  lying  where  the 
river  had  tossed  it,  and  entered  in,  through 
the  favor  of  Hachiman  ?  He  gave  all  the 
quaint  bits  of  evidence,  the  coming  of  the 
messenger,  the  dragon-fly  in  the  baby's 
hand  ("  You  know  our  Taro  and  his  horse 
were  found  shot  down  together,"  explained 
Gunkichi  with  some  pride),  the  child's  use 
of  the  name  Taro,  his  reiteration  of  the  fact 
that  he  was  a  soldier,  his  insistence  that 
O  Kimi  was  his  mother. 

The  priest  listened  with  reverent  inter 
est.  "  My  son,"  he  said,  "  it  is  plain  that 
you  and  O  Kimi  San  have  been  blessed  by 
a  miracle.  The  gods  have  seen  your  kind 
ness  to  the  poor  traveler,  your  worship  of 
the  great  Hachiman,  your  patience  under 
your  loss.  And  they  have  vouchsafed  to 
you  this  wonderful  thing.  Without  doubt 
the  spirit  of  your  own  Taro  has  come  back 

THE  FAVOR  OF  HACHIMAN 


36  to  you  clothed  in  the  body  of  poor  Suzu's 
baby.  Give  thanks  to  Hachiman,  whose 
messenger  brought  you  your  son  again." 

Gunkichi  fell  on  hands  and  knees  upon 
the  pebbled  walk,  and  laid  his  forehead  to 
the  ground.  "Reverend  priest,"  he  said, 
"  since  the  gods  have  indeed  condescended 
to  grant  so  great  a  gift  to  our  unworthi- 
ness,  we  would  show  our  gratitude  by  some 
offering.  What  humble  thing  may  we  do  ?  " 

And  the  priest  made  answer,  "  Upon  the 
river  bank,  close  to  the  spot  where  Suzu's 
body  was  found,  build  ye  a  shrine  to  the 
memory  of  her  and  of  her  child.  And  at  the 
full  moon  carry  thither,  you  and  Kimi  and 
Taro,  offerings  of  food  and  wine  to  their 
spirits.  And  each  year,  when  the  O  Bon 
feast  comes  round,  hang  there  a  lantern 
and  erect  a  spirit  altar,  so  that  when  they 
return  they  may  not  be  lonely,  but  may 
join  in  the  good  cheer  of  the  festival.  And 
teach  Taro,  and  bid  him  teach  his  children 
and  his  children's  children,  that  the  shrine  is 
holy,  and  that  they  must  continue  through- 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


out  their  generations  the  monthly  and  the  37 
yearly  offerings.  For  by  the  death  of  Suzu 
and  her  baby  your  family  is  continued, 
and  your  spirits  shall  be  loved  and  tended. 
Therefore,  so  long  as  your  generations 
continue  must  they  love  and  tend  the 
spirits  of  Suzu  and  her  son." 

Gunkichi  lifted  his  forehead  from  the 
earth.  "  Surely,"  he  said,  "  we  and  our 
children  and  our  children's  children  will 
pay  honor  to  the  spirits  of  the  mother  and 
her  child."  Then  with  grateful  words 
of  farewell  he  went  back,  subdued  and 
thoughtful,  to  his  home. 

Up  and  down  the  road  in  the  bright  sun 
shine  galloped  little  Taro,  driving  his  great 
dragon-fly  attached  by  a  thread  to  a  long 
bamboo  stick.  "  O  uma  ! "  (horse  !),  he 
shouted  gleefully  when  he  saw  Gunkichi. 
"O  Totchan!  O  uma!"  (Papa,  horse!) 
O  Kimi  had  hunted  out  from  her  iron- 
bound  chest  of  drawers  a  tiny  blue-and- 
white  kimono,  in  which  she  had  envel 
oped  his  chubby  body,  and  she  sat,  the 

THE  FAVOR  OF  HACHIMAN 


38  picture  of  cheer  and  happiness,  watching 
his  play,  and  working,  when  she  could  take 
her  greedy  eyes  away  from  him,  upon 
another  small  garment  ready  cut  upon  her 
lap.  When  she  saw  Gunkichi  she  called 
out,  "  Father,  his  excellency  has  been  here 
again,  and  he  says  we  may  keep  the  baby. 
The  man  at  Shio  no  Yu  does  n't  want 
him.  His  honor  said  for  you  to  come  and 
register  at  the  police  station.  Please  go 
quickly." 

Gunkichi  pattered  eagerly  away ;  Taro 
played  on  in  the  sunny  road;  O  Kimi 
San  sat  and  crooned  a  nursery  song  as 
she  worked  on  the  little  garment;  and  in 
the  shrine  of  Hachiman,  on  the  top  of  the 
Tengu  Rock,  a  great  black  snake,  coiled  in 
the  damp  coolness,  awaited  another  mes 
sage  from  the  god. 


IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


II 


AT  THE  SHRINE  OF  FUDO" 


II 


IT  had  come  at  last.  Torao  had  been 
wondering  all  day  how  he  should  tell  his 
mother.  The  reserve  regiment  of  which 
he  was  a  member  had  been  ordered  to  the 
front,  and  he  must  go  day  after  to-mor 
row.  As  he  whirled  homeward  through 
the  Tokyo  streets,  his  fast-trotting  kuru- 
maya  rushing  headlong  into  the  crowds 
with  loud  shouts  of  "He!  He!"  he  looked 
straight  in  front  of  him  with  knitted  brows 
and  unseeing  eyes,  hoping  one  moment 
that  she  had  not  yet  returned  from  her  visit 
to  her  sister,  the  next,  that  she  would  be 
waiting  for  him,  and  that  he  could  see  her 
at  once  and  have  it  over. 

He  had  passed  through  the  thronged 
avenues  of  Uyeno  Park,  now  in  its  full 
glory  of  cherry  blossoms,  and  was  wind 
ing  along  the  narrow  lanes  of  the  Negishi 

AT  THE  SHRINE  OF  FUDO 


42  quarter,  and  he  had  not  yet  decided 
whether  it  would  be  best  to  tell  her  to 
night,  or  to  let  her  have  one  more  night  of 
rest  and  happiness  without  knowing  what 
the  future  had  in  store  for  her.  He  did  not 
think  of  himself  at  all.  All  his  life  he  had 
hoped,  and  for  months  he  had  expected, 
that  he  would  have  his  chance  to  serve  the 
Emperor,  and  if  so  it  should  be  ordained, 
to  die  in  that  service.  Now  that  the  time 
had  come  and  he  was  called,  if  he  had 
thought  of  himself  at  all,  it  would  have 
been  with  the  exaltation  that  comes  from 
the  near  fulfillment  of  a  high  destiny.  Nor 
did  Fuyu,  his  young  wife,  add  greatly  to 
the  burden  of  his  mind.  She  loved  him, 
to  be  sure,  with  a  supreme  devotion  that 
would  give  him  her  very  soul,  if  need  be ; 
a  love  to  which  he  responded  with  the  con 
descending  though  sincere  affection  that 
Japanese  husbands  are  apt  to  bestow  on 
their  wives.  But  when  he  thought  of  her, 
it  was  with  a  calmness  that  could  reason 
out  her  future  and  derive  a  comfort  that 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


was  almost  satisfaction  from  the  forward  43 
look.  If  he  should  fall,  and  their  child, 
whom  he  might  never  see,  should  live, 
Fuyu  would  find  a  hope  and  pleasure  in 
its  existence  that  would  go  far  toward 
cheering  her  life.  If,  through  some  mis 
chance,  their  baby  should  not  live,  Fuyu 
would  then  be  free  to  return  to  her  father's 
house.  She  was  young,  she  could  begin 
life  anew,  and  might  in  the  future  become 
again  a  happy  wife  and  the  mother  of  chil 
dren. 

But  his  mother, — his  brows  knitted  more 
closely, — she  was  old ;  she  had  reached  the 
age  of  rest  and  freedom  from  care,  after 
a  long  life  of  labor  and  sorrow.  His  mind 
ran  back  to  those  days,  long  ago,  when  in 
her  early  widowhood,  ruined  in  estate  by 
the  same  war  that  had  taken  her  husband 
from  her,  she  had  been  father  and  mother, 
comrade  and  friend,  to  his  babyhood.  How 
long  the  days  seemed  when  she  was  away 
at  the  government  school  in  which  she 
earned,  by  eight  hours  of  absence  from  her 

AT  THE  SHRINE  OF  FUDO 


44  home  and  her  baby,  the  pittance  that  kept 
them  both  alive !  Kind  old  Baya,  the  nurse 
and  general  servant,  would  while  away  the 
time  for  the  little  fellow  as  best  she  could, 
by  songs  and  stories,  by  taking  him  out 
for  long  walks  to  see  the  temples  and  the 
shops  and  the  flowers, — walks  so  long  that 
sometimes  his  feet  would  falter  and  fail, 
and  she  would  have  to  pick  him  up  and 
carry  him  on  her  back,  holding  his  dirty 
little  clogs  in  her  hand  so  that  they  should 
not  soil  her  dress. 

Baya  was  kind  and  amusing,  and  a 
very  comfortable  person  for  a  small  boy 
to  depend  upon,  but  she  was  not  his 
mother,  and  so  he  was  lonely  all  those 
days,  and  only  at  night  did  he  feel  that  he 
was  really  satisfied.  For  when  she  came 
home  from  her  long  hours  of  work,  what 
a  wonderful  coziness  the  little  house  took 
on  suddenly !  He  would  watch  for  her 
every  night  in  the  front  room,  and  when 
he  heard  her  clogs  stop  at  the  lattice,  he 
would  bounce  quickly  out  and  fling  it  open 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


wide,  and  shout  "O  kaeri!"  and  seize  her  45 
bundle  of  books  and  pull  her  into  the  house. 
And  they  had  such  good  times  together. 
She  was  never  too  sad  or  too  tired  or  too 
busy  to  listen  with  the  most  absorbed  in 
terest  to  the  story  of  his  day,  to  laugh  at 
the  funny  paper  toys  he  brought  home  to 
her  for  o  mi  age,1  to  explain  to  him  all  the 
strange  things  that  he  had  seen,  and  to 
cuddle  him  and  make  much  of  him  until 
at  last,  when  Baya  had  spread  the  beds 
upon  the  floor  and  he  had  crept  into  his,  the 
dim  light  of  the  andon*  would  shine  upon 
his  mother's  face  close  beside  him,  the  last 
and  loveliest  object  upon  which  his  sleepy 
eyes  rested. 

Torao  shut  his  eyes  now  to  call  up  again 
that  face  of  his  childhood,  —  smooth,  oval, 
with  velvet  eyes  and  firm,  beautiful  lips  that 
flashed  from  their  wonted  seriousness  into 
the  most  brilliant  of  smiles  in  response  to 

1  The  present  given  to  one  who  stays  at  home  by  a 
member  of  the  family  returning  from  a  pleasure  trip. 

2  The  paper  lantern  used  as  a  night  light. 

AT  THE  SHRINE  OF  FUDO 


46  his  baby  wit  or  awkward  boyish  affection. 
The  abundant  hair  grew  to  a  little  point  on 
the  low,  broad  forehead,  and  was  combed 
smoothly  back  and  cut  short  at  the  nape 
of  the  neck,  the  cropped  ends  held  in  place 
by  a  clasp. 

"  Poor  mother,"  said  Torao,  thinking  of 
the  many  years  that  she  had  worn  this 
sign  of  her  widowhood,  nor  knew  that  he 
had  spoken  until  the  kurumaya  in  the 
shafts  turned  his  head  over  his  shoulder 
as  he  ran,  to  inquire,  "  Did  the  master 
speak?" 

With  an  impatient  phrase  he  answered 
the  man,  but  the  vision  of  his  early  boy 
hood  had  faded  from  his  mind,  and  in  its 
place  was  the  little,  worn,  tired  mother  of 
to-day.  The  smooth,  oval  face  was  lined 
and  hollow-cheeked,  the  soft,  deep  eyes 
were  dim,  the  abundant  black  hair  was 
thin  and  iron-gray,  the  sweet  mouth,  with 
its  soft  curves,  had  taken  on  an  expression 
of  resignation  and  patient  endurance, — 
signs  of  the  prolonged  toil  and  continual 

IN   THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


self-sacrifice  by  means  of  which  she  had  47 
managed  to  educate  her  son,  until  at  last, 
in  a  good  position  in  the  Bank  of  Japan, 
he  was  giving  back  to  her  in  her  old  age 
something  of  the  care  and  service  with 
which  she  had  surrounded  his  boyhood. 

Since  his  marriage,  less  than  a  year  ago, 
the  mother  had  become  Go  Inkyo  Sama, 
"  the  honorable  retired  one,"  and  free  from 
the  cares  which  had  been  her  lot  for  thirty 
years,  she  lived  in  her  own  portion  of  her 
son's  house,  honored  and  beloved  by  her 
son  and  her  daughter-in-law.  Instead  of 
the  long  days  at  school,  she  could  devote 
her  time  to  visiting  her  friends  or  receiving 
them  in  her  own  rooms.  There  was  now 
abundant  leisure  for  days  at  the  theatre, 
for  attendance  at  the  temple  festivals,  for 
excursions  to  the  parks  and  gardens  to  see 
the  flowers  as  they  came  into  bloom  in  the 
orderly  procession  of  the  seasons. 

Torao,  even  as  he  groaned  inwardly  over 
the  sorrow  that  must  come  to  darken  these 
sunny  days  of  old  age,  could  not  but  smile 

AT  THE  SHRINE  OF  FUDO 


48  as  he  thought  how  difficult  it  had  been 
for  his  mother  to  acquire  the  rest  habit.  It 
was  hard  for  her,  who  had  waited  upon  her 
self  and  her  son  for  thirty  years,  to  sit  still 
and  let  Fuyu  do  the  little  things  that  were 
now  her  care.  From  early  morning,  when 
the  amado  were  to  be  opened  and  the  house 
made  ready  for  the  day,  till  bedtime,  when 
\hefutons1  must  be  spread  on  the  floor  and 
the  night  lights  lighted  behind  their  white 
paper  shades,  O  Fuyu  needed  to  be  brisk 
indeed,  if  she  would  attend  to  her  work  be 
fore  Go  Inkyo  Sama  could  attempt  it.  And 
as  for  the  visits  and  festivities  which  Torao 
had  hoped  that  his  mother  would  enjoy  in 
the  freedom  of  her  new  position,  she  had 
so  long  been  forced  to  leave  her  home  each 
day,  whether  she  would  or  no,  that  to  her 
there  seemed  no  pleasure  comparable  to 
sitting  down  with  O  Fuyu  when  the  morn 
ing  work  was  done,  and  sewing,  chatting, 
reading,  writing,  and  smoking  tiny  pipefuls 
of  tobacco  from  time  to  time,  through  the 
1  The  heavy  quilts  used  in  making  a  Japanese  bed. 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


pleasant,  restful  days.  And  now  the  pros-  49 
pect  of  a  grandchild  had  made  her  so 
solicitous  for  O  Fuyu's  health  that  she 
had  taken  almost  the  entire  work  of  the 
house  upon  herself,  so  that  Torao  had  been 
driven  to  add  to  the  family  a  little  girl  to 
wait  upon  his  mother ;  and  O  Ko  San,  a 
child  of  fourteen,  neat,  smiling,  slender, 
and  most  anxious  to  learn  the  polite  ways 
of  the  gentry,  had  been  imported  from  their 
native  province  to  save  Go  Inkyo  Sama 
from  her  own  zeal. 

The  high,  breathless  "O  kaeri!"  of  the 
kurumaya,  as  he  dashed  in  at  the  gate, 
roused  Torao  from  his  reverie.  Panting 
and  dripping,  hat  in  hand  and  blue  wing- 
sleeves  rolled  to  the  shoulder,  the  kurumaya 
bent  double  beside  the  little  carriage  as  his 
master  stepped  to  the  ground.  There  was 
a  pattering  of  feet  within  the  house,  and  as 
Torao  sat  to  let  the  man  unlace  his  shoes,  — 
for  he  wore  his  business  dress  with  all  its 
foreign  accompaniments,  —  O  Ko  San  slid 
open  the  shoji  and  prostrated  herself  face 

AT  THE  SHRINE  OF  FUDO 


5o  downward  in  the  vestibule,  murmuring  her 
"Okaeri!" 

"  Has  my  mother  returned  ?  "  he  asked. 

O  K6  San  lifted  her  head  and  bowed 
again.  "  Go  Inkyo  Sama  returned  not 
half  an  hour  ago,  and  is  now  awaiting  the 
master  in  her  room.  She  brought  many 
gifts  home  from  her  sister's." 

"Torao,"  —  it  was  O  Fuyu  now  who  was 
bowing  and  smiling  with  the  pleasure  of 
his  return  and  of  the  gifts  that  Go  Inkyo 
Sama  had  brought,  —  "  Torao,  forgive  me 
that  I  was  not  at  the  door  to  meet  you,  but 
mother  has  just  returned  and  I  was  with 
her." 

She  looked  up  at  him  after  her  low  bow, 
and  caught  from  his  face  some  premoni 
tion  of  the  coming  sorrow.  "  Oh,  Torao  ! 
What  is  it?  What  has  happened?  Why 
do  you  look  so  strange  ?  " 

His  voice  was  gentle  as  he  answered 
her,  "  Come,  we  will  go  to  mother's  room, 
and  there  we  can  talk  it  all  over."  There 
was  no  question  now  of  when  or  how  he 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


should  tell  the  news.    Certainty  was  better      51 
than  the  fear  that  came  into  O  Fuyu's  eyes 
when  she  saw  his  face. 

Go  Inkyo  Sama  was  sitting  in  her  room, 
surrounded  by  the  presents  that  her  sister 
had  heaped  upon  her  after  the  all-day  visit 
she  had  been  trying  so  long  to  make.  The 
great  box  of  cake,  the  bolt  of  soft  gray 
silk,  the  wooden  case  containing  a  rare 
curio,  each  wrapped  neatly  about  with  a 
sheet  of  white  paper,  tied  with  red-and- 
white  strings,  and  adorned  with  a  noshi?  re 
lieved  the  spotless  simplicity  of  the  matted 
room,  giving  it  almost  a  furnished  aspect. 
The  old  lady  sat  by  the  kibachi?  for  the  day 
was  cool  with  the  damp  chilliness  of  the 
springtime,  and  with  tiny  pipe  in  hand  was 
taking  her  comfort  in  a  leisurely  smoking 
bout  while  she  awaited  her  son's  return. 

"O  kaeri,"  she  said,  as  he  and  Fuyu  en- 

1  A  bit  of    bright-colored    paper  folded    about    a 
strip  of  seaweed  and  slipped  under  the  string  of  a 
present. 

2  The  fire-pot  used  for  heating  purposes  in  a  Jap 
anese  house. 

AT  THE  SHRINE  OF  FUDO 


52  tered,  and  it  was  only  after  his  face  was 
lifted  from  the  bow  with  which  he  re 
sponded  "Tadaima,"  that  she  could  see 
the  cloud  upon  it. 

"  Mother,"  he  said,  and  he  paused  a 
moment. 

"Yes,  my  son."  The  look  of  patient 
endurance  that  the  years  had  taught  her 
was  behind  the  caressing  smile  that  always 
came  to  her  lips  when  she  spoke  to  him. 

"  Mother,"  he  began  again  ;  then  with  a 
plunge,  "  I  have  been  ordered  to  the  front. 
I  must  go  the  day  after  to-morrow." 

Even  Torao's  years  of  closest  intimacy 
with  his  mother  had  not  prepared  him  for 
the  change  that  swept  across  the  gentle, 
refined  old  face.  It  was  as  if  a  light  had 
been  suddenly  lighted  from  within ;  as  if 
the  faith  and  patience  of  a  lifetime  had 
been  at  last  crowned  by  fulfillment.  She 
bowed  in  reverence,  her  face  between  her 
hands  upon  the  matted  floor. 

"How  great  is  the  honor  vouchsafed 
to  us  by  our  lord  the  Emperor ! "  she  mur- 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


mured  softly, —  "to  us,  who  have  waited  all     53 
these  years  to  make  atonement ! " 

Torao  listened  in  amazement.  O  Fuyu 
at  the  threshold  bowed  in  grief  and  awe, 
while  little  O  K6  San  in  the  passage  beyond 
snuffled  audibly  as  she  crouched  with  her 
nose  flattened  against  the  polished  floor. 
Go  Inkyo  Sama  lifted  her  head  at  last. 
Her  eyes  were  bright  and  tearless,  her 
withered  cheeks  slightly  reddened  with  the 
excitement. 

"  Listen,"  she  said,  "  and  I  will  tell  you. 
You  know  about  the  troubled  times  after 
the  foreigners  began  to  come  into  the 
country,  when  the  Tokugawa  house  had 
fallen.  His  Majesty  was  hardly  more  than 
a  boy,  and  none  knew  who  were  the  friends 
and  who  the  enemies  of  the  Son  of  Heaven.1 
Your  father  believed  that  the  great  Saigo 
was  right  when  he  withdrew  to  Kagoshima 
and  took  up  arms  against  the  new  party 
that  had  surrounded  the  Emperor,  that  had 

1  Go  Inkyo  Sama  refers  to  the  famous  Satsuma 
Rebellion  of  1877. 

AT  THE  SHRINE  OF  FUDO 


54  drilled  a  heimin1  army,  that  would  take 
from  the  samurai  the  prerogatives  that  they 
had  held  for  a  thousand  years.  He  believed 
that  Saigo  was  right,  that  the  Emperor  was 
listening  to  evil  councilors,  —  and  he  died 
fighting  to  restore  the  older  councilors  to 
their  places,  and  to  give  back  to  his  own 
class  their  ancient  privileges.  But  after  it 
was  all  over,  and  he  had  yielded  up  his  life 
for  his  cause  and  the  great  Saigo  lay  dead 
upon  the  field,  we  who  remained,  and  who 
suffered  more  than  those  who  gave  their 
lives  in  battle,  learned  little  by  little  how 
blind  had  been  the  fight  against  the  will  of 
the  Emperor,  against  the  Era  of  Enlighten 
ment  and  all  it  means  to  Japan.  And  when 
at  last  I  knew,  I  desired  most  of  all,  Torao, 
that  you  should  give  to  the  Emperor  and 
to  Japan  your  life  as  an  atonement  for  your 
father's  mistake.  You  are  going,  by  the 
grace  of  his  Majesty,  to  the  front.  Do  not 
forget  that  your  father's  spirit  has  through 

1  The  common  people,  as  distinguished  from  the 
military  or  samurai  class. 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


all  these  years  been  waiting  for  you  to  make      55 
his  atonement." 

Her  voice,  which  had  been  throughout 
her  long  speech  curiously  monotonous  and 
inexpressive,  so  carefully  had  she  main 
tained  her  self-control  under  the  strong 
emotion  that  possessed  her,  died  away,  and 
she  bowed  once  more  to  the  floor. 

"Mother,"  said  Torao,  "I  am  thankful. 
It  was  of  you  and  of  your  grief  in  losing 
me  that  I  thought  as  I  came  home.  But 
if  to  you  my  going  is  the  fulfillment  of  a 
lifelong  hope,  then  I  go  gladly,  and  my 
father  shall  see  that  his  atonement  is  made. 
The  Son  of  Heaven  himself  has  said,  '  Duty 
is  heavier  than  a  mountain,  while  death  is 
lighter  than  a  feather.' 1  If  I  do  my  duty, 
my  death  is  nothing  to  be  mourned. " 

Little  O  Fuyu,  lonely  and  desolate  in  the 
presence  of  the  rapt  exaltation  of  mother 
and  son,  was  shaking  now  with  the  sobs 
that  she  could  no  longer  control.  The  sun 
of  her  life  seemed  to  be  setting,  and  here 
1  From  the  Imperial  rescript  to  the  soldiers. 

AT  THE  SHRINE  OF  FUDO 


56  were  these  two  talking  of  hopes  fulfilled, 
of  honor,  of  atonement,  of  duty  and  death, 
with  no  word  for  her,  or  for  the  dear  baby 
whose  life  and  well-being  had  seemed  until 
now  of  such  consequence  to  the  whole 
household.  At  the  sound  of  her  sobs  Torao 
turned  to  where  she  sat  humbly  behind  him 
close  to  the  threshold. 

"  Fuyu,"  he  said  gently,  "  do  not  grieve. 
Mother  will  take  care  of  you  and  you  of 
her,  and  soon  you  will  be  happy  with  our 
baby  to  live  for.  I  should  not  be  worthy 
to  be  a  father  if  I  were  not  glad  to  make 
atonement  for  my  father's  error.  And  if 
I  come  back,  how  proud  you  will  be  to 
show  me  the  little  one  !  Remember  you 
are  a  samurai  and  the  wife  of  a  samurai, 
and  soon  to  be  the  mother  of  a  samurai, " 
and  he  patted  her  shoulder  gently. 

"  Poor  little  O  Fuyu  San."  Go  Inkyo 
Sama's  voice  was  very  tender.  "  I  know 
how  hard  it  is.  I  am  old  now,  and  this  life 
and  the  next  are  very  close  together.  That 
is  why  I  can  let  Torao  go  without  a  tear. 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


But  when  I  let  my  husband  go,  it  was  dif-  57 
ferent.  Life  was  long  then,  and  I  could  not 
look  forward  to  it  without  him.  It  has  been 
long,  but  it  has  been  lived,  and  the  hap 
piness  after  all  has  been  more  than  the 
sorrow.  Oh,  Fuyu,  we  women  must  bear 
things  bravely  when  they  come  to  us,  for 
courage  is  in  itself  happiness." 

O  Fuyu  lifted  her  pretty  face  from  be 
hind  her  sleeves  and  bowed  humbly.  "  I 
was  wrong,  mother,  to  weep.  I  will  be 
brave  now,"  she  said  simply,  and  even  as 
she  spoke,  she  forced  her  trembling  lips 
to  smile. 

"  There  speaks  a  daughter  of  the  samu- 
'rai  I "  Go  Inkyo  Sama  smiled  approvingly. 
"And  now,  if  Torao  is  so  soon  to  leave 
us,  we  must  prepare  all  festival  dishes  for 
to-morrow.  Call  O  K5  San,  and  we  will 
make  some  plans." 

So  ended  the  dreaded  interview,  and 
Torao  retired  from  his  mother's  presence 
to  the  refreshment  of  a  hot  bath  and  the 
loose  Japanese  garments,  while  the  women 

AT  THE  SHRINE  OF  FUDO 


58  turned  their  thoughts  from  the  burden  of 
great  emotions  to  the  restful  details  of  petty 
household  arrangements. 

In  the  bustle  of  the  morrow,  when  friends 
came  and  went  all  day  making  farewell 
visits,  when  there  were  all  the  preparations 
for  departure  to  be  made  and  all  the 
arrangements  for  the  little  household  in 
its  master's  absence,  Go  Inkyo  Sama  and 
O  Fuyu  San  were  calm,  collected,  smiling. 
They  set  before  each  guest  a  tray  of  festival 
food.  They  chatted  and  bowed  and  re 
ceived  with  every  sign  of  complete  satis 
faction  the  conventional  congratulations 
upon  the  honor  that  had  come  to  them. 
They  acted  their  parts  in  a  way  worthy  of 
their  pride  of  race.  And  though,  when  it 
was  all  over,  and  the  amado  closed  for  the 
night,  O  Fuyu  could  no  longer  control  her 
self,  and  retired,  for  lack  of  a  better  place 
in  the  small  house,  to  the  clothes-closet, 
there  to  pour  out  her  soul  in  tears,  Torao, 
when  he  found  her,  a  forlorn,  crouching, 
shaking  heap,  had  no  word  of  blame  for  her 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


weakness,  but  drew  her  out  and  comforted      59 
her,  and  brought  back  to  her  face  at  last  a 
damp  and  precarious  smile. 

In  the  gray  of  the  morning  they  were 
all  astir,  and  before  the  day  had  fairly 
dawned  the  kuruma,  with  Tetsu  standing 
beside  it  hat  in  hand,  was  ready  at  the 
door.  There  were  no  tears,  or  sighs,  or 
kisses ;  but  followed  by  many  bows  and 
tender  smiles  and  low-breathed  "  Sayo 
naras,"  Torao  passed  out  through  the  little 
lattice  door  and  became  a  part  of  the  great 
war. 

It  was  then  that  O  Fuyu's  nerve  gave 
way,  and  all  day  long  Go  Inkyo  Sama  and 
O  K6  San  worked  over  her  and  petted  her 
and  comforted  her ;  and  when  night  came 
and  she  was  tucked  away  among  the  fu 
tons,  she  slept  at  last,  worn  out  with  grief, 
nor  knew  anything  more  until  the  sound 
of  opening  amado  roused  her  and  O  K6 
San  from  their  slumbers  in  the  chill  before 
dawn.  O  Ko  San  bounded  to  her  feet  to 
see  Go  Inkyo  Sama,  lantern  in  hand,  wear- 

AT  THE  SHRINE  OF  FUDD 


60  ing  the  conventional  dress  of  ceremony, 
pattering  along  the  stone-paved  walk  to 
the  street.  Where  was  she  going  ?  and  at 
such  an  hour ! 

Shivering  and  frightened,  O  Fuyu  San 
and  O  K6  San  dressed  and  set  the  house 
to  rights,  although  it  was  only  four  o'clock, 
then  sat  and  awaited  the  old  lady's  return. 
They  talked  in  a  desultory  way  of  the  war, 
of  the  sufferings  of  the  soldiers,  of  the  fero 
city  and  stupidity  of  the  Russians,  and  in 
the  intervals  of  silence  O  Fuyu  surrepti 
tiously  wiped  the  tears  from  her  eyes. 

At  last,  about  seven  o'clock,  when  they 
were  beginning  to  be  worried  about  her 
strange  absence,  Go  Inkyo  Sama  came.  She 
was  smiling  and  serene,  but  her  worn  face 
looked  more  worn,  her  slender  shrunken 
body  more  slender  and  shrunken.  In  re 
sponse  to  their  eager  questioning,  she  told 
them  of  her  early  morning  visit  to  the  shrine 
of  Fudo.1 

1  The  Buddhist  God  of  Wisdom.   His  name  means 
"  The  Immovable." 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


"  It  is  time  for  me  to  pray,"  she  said  sim-     61 
ply,  "  and  Fud5  Sama  is  wise  and  power 
ful.   We  all  need  strength  and  courage,  — 
Torao  and  you,  little  O  Fuyu  San,  and  I, 
so  I  shall  ask  it  for  us  all  every  day." 

In  the  months  that  followed,  Go  Inkyo 
Sarna  never  failed  to  rise  at  four,  and  after 
a  complete  ceremonial  cleansing  in  cold 
water,  to  walk  the  three  miles  to  the  Fud5 
shrine,  offer  there  her  prayer,  and  return  in 
time  for  the  day's  work,  whatever  it  might 
prove  to  be.  When  letters  began  to  come 
from  Torao,  and  he  told  of  his  life  at  Port 
Arthur  and  of  the  terrible  sufferings  and 
great  courage  and  enthusiasm  of  the  sol 
diers,  Go  Inkyo  Sama  added  to  her  daily 
prayer  for  her  own  a  petition  for  all  the 
soldiers  of  Nippon,  and  threw  herself  with 
feverish  energy  into  the  relief  work  for  the 
families  left  at  home.  When,  in  July,  the 
baby  came,  —  a  sturdy  brown  boy,  so  like 
his  father  that  he  gave  new  courage  and 
hope  to  mother  and  grandmother  alike, 
she  took  him  as  a  direct  answer  to  her 

AT  THE  SHRINE  OF  FUDO 


62  prayers,  and  grew  stronger  than  ever  in 
her  faith.  To  the  whole  of  the  sad  little 
household  the  baby  was  a  joy  and  a  delight. 
"  Gunjiri  "  (Soldier  Boy),  they  called  him 
while  they  waited  for  the  true  name  that 
his  father  should  send  him  when  they  had 
had  time  to  hear  from  him  ;  and  the  pet 
name  clung  even  after  the  baby  had  been 
formally  carried  to  the  temple  and  pre 
sented  to  the  tutelar  god  of  the  parish 
under  his  real  name  of  Heitaro. 

The  days  were  never  too  long  for  Go 
Inkyo  Sama  and  O  Fuyu  San,  even  though 
they  began  at  four  o'clock,  for  there  was 
always  something  to  do,  and  the  baby 
furnished  an  unfailing  subject  of  care  and 
conversation.  When  O  K5  San  carried 
him  out  to  walk  tied  to  her  back,  the  be 
reaved  mother  and  grandmother  would 
sit  at  home  and  talk  about  his  present 
charms,  his  future  greatness,  what  his 
father  would  say  when  he  saw  him,  while 
their  busy  fingers  flew  over  stockings  that 
they  were  knitting  for  the  hard  winter  that 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


the  soldiers  had  ahead  of  them  in  Man-      63 
churia,  or  on  the  sewing  of  hospital  kimo 
nos  or  clothes  for  the  orphaned  children, 
or  some  other  work  of  helpfulness  for  those 
who  were  suffering  for  the  country. 

But  when  the  baby  came  home,  his  little 
black  slits  of  eyes  usually  tightly  closed, 
his  head  atilt  like  a  sleepy  flower  on  his 
slender  neck,  there  was  a  great  rush  to 
take  him  from  O  Ko  San's  back,  to  hug 
him  and  cuddle  him  and  make  much  of 
him,  and  Go  Inkyo  Sama  was  almost  jeal 
ous  of  O  Fuyu  because  it  was  to  her  at  last 
that  he  must  go  for  food.  But  as  she  sat 
and  watched  the  little  mother,  and  saw  the 
ineffable  tenderness  of  motherhood  steal 
into  the  girlish  face,  her  heart  would  lose 
its  soreness,  and  she  would  feel  once  more 
Torao's  baby  head  pillowed  on  her  own 
breast. 

"  It  is  what  we  are  glad  to  give  our  lives 
for,  isn't  it  Fuyu?"  she  would  say;  and 
Fuyu  would  smile  and  answer  shyly,  "  It 
is,  indeed !  " 

AT  THE  SHRINE  OF  FUDO 


64  The  long  walks,  even  in  the  cool  morn 
ings  of  the  hot  summer  days,  seemed  to 
tell  a  little  upon  Go  Inkyo  Sama.  She 
grew  more  delicate,  more  worn,  as  her 
sweet  old  face  grew  more  ethereal.  O 
Fuyu,  young  and  inexperienced  as  she 
was,  watched  the  change  with  anxiety,  but 
could  do  nothing. 

"  Mother,"  she  said  one  day,  "  do  you 
feel  quite  well?  Aren't  you  tiring  your 
self  with  your  long  days  and  your  hard 
work?" 

"Fuyu,  can  we  speak  of  being  tired 
when  we  know  what  our  soldiers  are 
doing?"  was  all  the  answer  that  the  old 
lady  would  give. 

"But,  mother,  Torao  told  me  to  take 
care  of  you,"  persisted  the  little  wife. 

"Yes,  child,  I  know,  but  we  must  do 
what  we  can  for  the  brave  men  at  the 
front,  and  for  the  little  ones  they  have  left 
behind." 

Go  Inkyo  Sama's  eyes  wandered  lov 
ingly  to  the  brown  baby  lying  asleep  on 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


his  quilt  close  beside  her,  one  crumpled  65 
rose-leaf  hand,  palm  upward,  thrust  out 
side  his  wrapping.  She  leaned  over  and 
patted  him,  and  a  tear  fell  and  splashed 
on  his  unconscious  cheek,  —  a  tear  that 
Fuyu  could  not  see. 

As  the  autumn  came  on,  and  the  morn 
ings  grew  colder,  there  was  no  relaxation 
of  Go  Inkyo  Sama's  austerities.  Every 
morning,  long  before  day,  after  the  cold 
water  purification,  she  trotted  shivering 
through  the  sleeping  streets  to  the  temple 
of  her  devotion,  offered  her  prayer,  and 
returned,  sometimes  too  tired  to  eat  the 
warm  soup  and  rice  which  O  Fuyu  San  set 
before  her.  But  she  was  never  too  tired  for 
the  long  day  of  work,  for  a  smile  or  a  plea 
sant  word  to  her  daughter  and  to  O  Ko  San, 
for  a  hug  and  a  pat  to  the  baby,  who  grew 
stronger  and  redder-cheeked  every  day. 

Torao's  letters  came  regularly,  telling  not 
much  about  what  was  being  accomplished, 
but  something  of  how  they  lived  and  how 
they  fought,  and  what  they  hoped  and 

AT  THE  SHRINE  OF  FUDO 


66  prayed  might  come  from  the  daily  sacri 
fice  of  lives  offered  gladly  for  the  Emperor. 
Go  Inkyo  Sama  read  them  again  and 
again,  sometimes  aloud  to  O  Fuyu  San, 
sometimes  alone  in  her  room  with  stream 
ing  eyes.  "  I  will  do  my  best,"  he  wrote, 
"  and  you  must  not  grieve  if  I  change  into 
a  spirit  at  Port  Arthur.  Even  though  my 
perishable  body  may  nevermore  be  seen 
in  this  world,  I  shall  not  forget  'loyalty 
to  our  Emperor  for  seven  lives.' " 

By  the  end  of  October  the  weather  had 
grown  cold  and  bleak;  the  early  morning 
walk  was  taken  through  dark  and  silent 
streets  with  the  aid  of  a  bobbing  paper 
lantern. 

"  Let  O  Ko  San  go  with  you,"  pleaded 
O  Fuyu  San. 

"  No,  child,  let  O  Ko  San  do  her  duty, 
this  is  mine ; "  and  Go  Inkyo  Sama  set 
forth  alone  in  the  darkness. 

Along  the  entrance-way  to  the  great 
temple,  between  the  rows  of  shuttered 
booths  that  all  the  day  long  were  gay  with 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS    , 


toys  and  notions,  and  thronged  by  pur-  67 
chasers,  she  passed  to  the  heavy  gateway 
on  either  side  of  which  the  gigantic  figures 
of  the  Two  Kings1  glowered  and  writhed 
behind  their  bars.  The  dying  moon  cast 
strange  shadows,  the  sweeping  curves  of 
the  temple  roof  hung  over  the  great  lac 
quered  pillars  and  the  dark  spaces  be 
tween.  She  paused  before  the  shrine  where 
Fud5,  the  immovable,  encircled  by  flames 
and  carrying  in  his  hands  the  sword  and 
the  robe  of  justice,  sat  enthroned.  As  she 
knelt  with  bowed  head,  closed  eyes,  and 
rosary  rubbed  between  her  folded  palms, 
chanting  in  subdued  tones  the  invocation, 
her  whole  soul  went  out  in  the  prayer  that 
Fud5,  the  immovably  just  and  wise,  might 
grant  to  her  the  wish  of  her  heart.  She 
knelt  longer  than  usual,  in  an  ecstasy  of 
devotion,  and  when  she  reached  home  at 
last,  it  seemed  to  poor  little  anxious  O  Fuyu 

1  Ni-6,  or  "  Two  Kings,"  Indra  and  Brahma,  who 
keep  guard  at  the  outer  gates  of  Buddhist  temples  to 
scare  away  demons. 

AT  THE  SHRINE  OF  FUDG 


68  San  that  she  looked  so  frail,  so  ethereal, 
that  the  worn  body  could  scarcely  do  the 
will  of  the  lofty  spirit  that  was  driving  it  on. 

Go  Inkyo  Sama  hardly  tasted  her  break 
fast,  though  O  Fuyu  San  served  it  daintily 
and  urged  the  old  lady  to  eat.  At  last  the 
young  wife  retired  sorrowfully  with  the  tray 
and  the  rice-bucket,  handed  them  to  O  K5 
San  in  the  kitchen,  and  stopped  a  few  mo 
ments  in  her  own  room  to  look  after  little 
Heitaro,  asleep  on  his  quilt  in  the  corner. 
As  she  bent  over  him  she  heard  Go  Inkyo 
Sama  call,  — 

"  Fuyu,  come  quickly !  I  must  tell  you 
something." 

O  Fuyu  slid  open  the  door,  and  crouched 
at  the  threshold  of  the  mother's  room. 

"  Here  I  am,  mother ;  what  is  it  ?  " 

Go  Inkyo  Sama's  face  was  very  pale 
her  eyes  were  bright,  her  breath  came 
quickly.  "  O  Fuyu,  my  prayer  is  granted. 
Torao  will  come  home  again  to  you  and 
the  baby.  All  these  months  I  have  prayed 
to  Fudo  Sama  that  he  would  let  me  die 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


in  Torao's  place,  and  to-day  the  time  has     69 
come." 

She  fell  forward  as  she  spoke  and  said 
no  more.  O  Fuyu  did  all  she  could.  She 
put  her  to  bed  with  O  Ko  San's  aid,  and 
sent  for  the  doctor,  the  relatives,  the  near 
friends.  All  day  there  was  coming  and 
going  at  the  little  house,  and  Go  Inkyo 
Sama  lay  breathing  faintly.  At  midnight 
there  came  a  change.  The  unconscious 
face  was  suddenly  transfigured  by  a  radiant 
smile,  and  she  sat  up  and  spoke,  knowing 
no  one  of  all  the  weeping  relatives  who 
knelt  about  her. 

"  Torao,  come  with  me !  "  she  said,  and 
that  was  all. 

Next  day  the  great  white  lanterns l  were 
hung  before  the  door,  and  little  O  Fuyu 
San  offered  the  daily  and  hourly  honors  of 
food  and  incense  to  the  brave  spirit  that 
had  passed  so  suddenly  from  sight.  "  How 

1  White  lanterns  are  hung  before  the  door  of  a 
house  where  a  death  has  taken  place,  much  as  crape 
or  black  ribbon  is  used  with  us. 

AT  THE  SHRINE  OF  FUDO 


yo  can  I  ever  tell  Torao?"  she  said  to  herself 
again  and  again,  while  the  tears  flowed 
unchecked,  for  there  was  no  one  to  be 
made  sadder  by  her  grief. 

On  the  steep  slope  of  a  beleaguered 
Russian  fortress,  mingled  with  heaps  of 
dead  and  dying,  lay  Torao,  breathing 
faintly  through  that  long  October  day. 
Above  him  shrieked  and  roared  the  shells 
of  both  sides,  about  him  fell  from  time  to 
time  stray  bullets,  but  his  ears  were  dull, 
his  eyes  dim.  The  sun  went  down,  the 
search-lights  from  the  forts  played  over 
the  ghastly  scene,  the  firing  never  ceased, 
and  still  he  lay  unconscious  of  it  all. 

Then,  from  out  the  far  distance,  —  a  dis 
tance  of  hundreds  of  miles,  it  seemed,  and 
of  years  too  remote  for  memory's  reach, — 
there  came  to  him  a  voice. 

"  Torao,"  it  said,  "  come  with  me." 

Slowly  the  languid  eyes  opened.  A  light 
that  was  neither  search-light  nor  rocket, 
but  a  clear,  steady,  bluish  flame,  was  mov- 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


ing  toward  him.  Lazily  he  watched  it,  71 
then  sat  up  with  a  start.  Was  he  dream 
ing,  or  was  he  dying  ?  How  could  she  be 
here  on  this  ghastly  field  of  death?  For 
there  before  him  was  the  beautiful  young 
face  of  his  boyhood ;  not  worn  or  lined, 
but  smooth  and  fair  and  oval,  the  sweet 
lips  smiling,  the  velvet  eyes  searching 
through  all  that  horrible  place  for  him. 

"Torao,  come,"  she  said;  and  at  the 
word,  wounded,  weak,  bleeding,  amid  the 
glare  of  search-lights,  the  hail  of  bullets, 
the  boom  of  guns,  Torao  rose  to  his  feet, 
staggered  forward,  following  the  guidance 
of  his  mother's  voice,  and  fell  at  last,  safe 
from  danger,  behind  the  shelter  of  an 
abandoned  trench. 

There  they  found  him  in  the  morning 
with  a  great  hole  in  his  side,  but  still  alive. 
When,  two  weeks  later,  there  came  to  him 
in  the  hospital  at  Dalny  O  Fuyu's  letter 
telling  him  of  his  mother's  death,  he  knew, 
even  as  she  had  known,  how  Fudo  answers 
prayer. 

AT  THE  SHRINE  OF  FUDO 


Ill 


THE   BLUE   FLAME 


The  incident  of  this  story  is  connected  with  the  dis 
astrous  "snow-march"  of  February,  1901,  when  the 
Japanese  army  was  testing  its  ability  to  meet  Siberian 
winter  conditions. 


Ill 

IT  had  been  snowing  for  weeks  in  the 
province  of  Aomori,  and  the  little  city 
was  almost  hidden  under  drifts.  The  mud- 
walled,  boulder-covered  houses  were  white 
mounds,  the  streets  were  tunneled  valleys. 
As  you  looked  down  on  the  city  from  the 
hills  above,  you  could  see  no  signs  of  life 
except  the  wreaths  of  blue  smoke  curling 
into  the  air. 

And  yet  there  was  cheer  and  comfort 
enough  in  one  of  the  quaint  little  houses. 
O  Yuki  San  was  very  busy  with  prepara 
tions  to  receive  her  husband.  She  had 
built  a  big  charcoal  fire  in  the  kotatsu?  for 
she  knew  that  he  would  be  cold  after  his 
two  days  of  snow-marching  with  his  com 
pany.  In  the  kitchen  the  red-cheeked  cook- 

1  A  fire-box  in  the  floor,  over  which  is  set  a  rack, 
and  the  whole  covered  by  a  heavy  comfortable. 

THE  BLUE  FLAME 


76  maid  was  broiling  a  fish  over  the  coals, 
preparing  a  savory  soup  in  a  porringer, 
and  keeping  an  anxious  eye  on  the  big 
rice-pot,  to  make  sure  that  the  staff  of  life 
was  boiled  just  right,  neither  too  hard  nor 
too  soft,  —  just  as  the  master  liked  to  have 
it.  O  Yuki  San  must  watch  the  cook,  and 
see  that  she  did  everything  exactly  as  she 
should,  and  she  must  make  ready  her  hus 
band's  tray  with  her  own  hands.  Lovingly 
she  placed  in  their  respective  corners  the 
porcelain  rice-bowl,  the  lacquered  soup- 
bowl,  the  dainty  plate  on  which  the  broiled 
fish  was  to  be  served,  and  the  chopsticks 
of  clean  white  pine,  joined  together  at  the 
ends  to  show  that  no  one  had  ever  used 
them. 

Old  Jiiya,  the  man-servant,  decrepit  but 
faithful,  came  in  suddenly  out  of  the  driv 
ing  snow,  as  O  Yuki  San,  on  her  knees 
in  the  matted  end  of  the  kitchen,  was  cock 
ing  her  head  on  one  side  to  make  sure 
that  her  arrangement  of  the  tray  was  quite 
symmetrical.  He  pulled  his  feet  noisily 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


out  of  his  clogs,  and  came  down  on  the      77 
loosely  rattling  boards  of  the  floor  in  a 
crouching  position  at  the  sight  of  his  mis 
tress. 

"  It 's  a  cold  night,  mistress ! "  he  ejacu 
lated,  by  way  of  greeting,  and  dropped  his 
face  between  his  hands  on  the  floor. 

"  Yes,  Jiiya,  it  is  cold,  and  how  it  snows ! 
When  do  you  think  your  master  will 
come?" 

Jiiya' s  face  came  up  for  a  moment. 
"  It  is  thought  at  the  garrison  that  the 
troops  may  be  in  at  any  time  now.  They 
had  only  fifteen  miles  to  march  to-day, 
and  they  would  start  early.  The  master 
will  probably  be  here  in  a  few  minutes 
more." 

O  Yuki  San  rose  to  her  feet.  "  There, 
the  tray  is  finished  ! "  she  said.  "  O  Kayo, 
when  you  hear  the  master's  voice,  bring  in 
his  supper ;  and,  Jiiya,  be  ready  to  help  him 
off  with  his  boots  as  soon  as  he  comes,  for 
they  will  be  wet  and  stiff." 

Jiiya  and  O  Kayo  bowed  low,  and  mur- 

THE  BLUE  FLAME 


7 8  mured  the  "  Saio  de  gozaimasu  "  1  with 
which  the  respectful  Japanese  servant 
always  receives  his  master's  commands ; 
and  O  Yuki  San  returned  to  her  little  sit 
ting-room.  On  the  floor  in  one  corner  lay 
a  little  heap  of  bright-colored  comfortables. 
O  Yuki  San  bent  over  it,  turning  back  the 
quilts  that  she  might  see  the  round,  rosy 
face,  the  crumpled,  slender  hands,  and  the 
closely  shaven  head  of  her  baby  boy. 

"Oh,  baby,  how  you  sleep!"  she  said. 
Don't  you  know  that  papa 's  coming  home 
to-night?" 

She  patted  him  lightly,  and  he  smiled 
and  gurgled  in  his  sleep  ;  then  she  covered 
him  tenderly  and  made  a  tour  of  the  room. 
The  hanging  scroll  on  the  wall  bore  a  pic 
ture  of  a  plum-tree  in  blossom,  sign  of  the 
spring  that  was  only  one  month  away,  — 
for  even  in  Aomori  the  plum-trees  blossom 
in  March,  —  and  sign,  too,  of  long  life  and 
good  luck  and  happiness.  That  was  why 
the  little  wife  had  taken  it  to-day  from  the 
i  "  It  is  honorably  so." 

IN   THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


fireproof  storehouse  and  hung  it  up  to  greet  79 
her  husband  on  his  return.  "  He  will  want 
to  think  about  the  spring  when  he  comes 
in  all  tired  and  cold  from  his  snow-march," 
she  had  said  to  herself  as  she  unrolled  it. 
She  laughed  gleefully  now  as  she  looked 
at  the  picture,  and  sang  a  little  song  that 
had  been  running  in  her  head  all  day,  — 

"  When  the  spring  wind  is  blowing  sharp  and  chill, 
Like  snowflakes  fall  the  plum-blooms  on  the  hill." 

"  Snowflakes  now,"  she  said  to  herself,     \ 
"  but  plum-blooms  next  month  for  all  of  us ! " 

There  was  a  sound  at  the  outer  door,  and 
the  sliding  lattice  flew  sharply  back.  "  He 
has  come,  Jiiya,"  called  O  Yuki  San,  as  she 
hurried  to  the  door  and  flung  it  wide.  She 
could  see  the  gold-trimmed  soldier  cap  as 
her  husband  fumbled  with  his  boots.  "  Let 
Jiiya  help  you,"  she  said ;  "  he  is  right  here." 

He  raised  his  head  and  she  saw  his 
bearded  face.  It  was  so  white  that  it  fright 
ened  her.  The  beard  was  covered  with 
snow,  and  icicles  dripped  from  the  hair  and 
eyebrows. 

THE  BLUE  FLAME 


8o  "  Come  in !  Come  in ! "  she  cried.  "  Never 
mind  the  boots  or  the  snow.  You  are  freez 
ing.  Come  in  and  let  me  warm  you." 

He  looked  at  her  strangely,  and  his  eyes 
were  sunken  and  dull.  Jiiya,  who  had  come 
around  the  house,  and  was  bowing  obse 
quiously  in  the  doorway,  started  and  turned 
pale.  The  master  sat  down,  and  Jiiya  seized 
his  boots,  but  the  feet  were  like  stones 
and  the  boots  would  not  come  off.  O  Yuki 
San,  wild  with  anxiety,  pushed  and  pulled 
her  husband  into  the  sitting-room,  made 
him  sit  down  by  the  kotatsu,  and  pulled 
the  warm  comfortables  about  him.  The 
baby  moaned  in  his  sleep,  but  she  had  no 
time  to  hush  him  now.  She  hurried  to  the 
kitchen  to  bring  the  tray,  saying  to  the 
red-cheeked  cook,  "  Hurry !  Hurry !  He  is 
so  cold  !  He  will  die  if  you  do  not  hurry  ! " 

Jiiya  came  shuffling  in  at  the  back  door 
just  as  she  took  the  tray  from  the  hands  of 
the  cook  and  hastened  away  with  it. 

u  What  is  the  matter  with  the  master?" 
asked  O  Kayo  of  Jiiya. 

IN   THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


The  old  man  shook  his  head  doubtfully.      81 
"  It  is  hard  to  say,"  was  his  noncommittal 
answer.  "  Strange  things  happen  in  this 
world.  —  Hark  !  What  is  that  ?  " 

A  shriek  rent  the  air,  and  another,  and 
then  another.  Man  and  maid  stood  for 
a  moment  looking  at  each  other,  then 
Jiiya  started  to  the  rescue.  Flinging  wide 
the  paper  screen  that  separated  the  kitchen 
from  the  sitting-room,  they  saw  nothing 
there  but  the  baby,  who,  wakened  by  the 
sounds,  had  rolled  out  of  his  comfortables 
and  lay  kicking  and  screaming  on  the  floor. 
The  door  beyond  was  open,  and  they  heard 
the  mistress  calling,  "Jiiya,  come  quick! 
He  is  gone  ! "  Out  through  the  open  door 
into  the  snow  tunnel  that  joined  the  house 
to  the  street,  they  went,  seeking.  A  pale 
blue  flame  danced  in  the  tunnel,  the  mis 
tress  lay  on  her  face  in  the  snow,  stretching 
her  arms  toward  the  dancing  light. 

"  He  was  here,  and  then  there  was  no 
thing,  only  that  light,"  she  cried,  and  her 
head  fell  and  she  knew  no  more.  The  flame 

THE  BLUE  FLAME 


82      danced  and  flickered  and  disappeared,  and 
with  it  went  the  light  of  O  Yuki  San's  life. 

Four  days  later,  when  the  news  began  to 
come  in  of  the  disaster  that  had  overtaken 
the  snow-march,  and  the  first  and  only 
men  saved  from  that  terrible  tragedy  were 
brought  back,  maimed  and  almost  dead 
from  the  long  exposure,  Lieutenant  Maruki 
told  to  some  of  his  fellow  officers  all  that 
he  knew  of  the  death  of  Lieutenant  Saito. 

"We  pushed  on  together,"  he  said, 
"  looking  for  a  sign  of  the  village.  It  was 
the  second  day,  and  we  had  been  wander 
ing,  without  a  path,  in  snow  up  to  our  arm 
pits,  for  more  than  twenty-four  hours.  I 
could  see  that  Saito  was  freezing.  His  face 
was  crusted  with  ice,  and  his  hair  and  beard 
fringed  with  icicles.  At  last  he  turned  to 
me  and  said,  'I  can't  go  any  farther, 
Maruki.  You  must  not  let  them  waste  any 
time  looking  for  me.  I  will  tell  my  wife, 
and  there  is  no  one  else  who  cares.'  Then 
he  dropped  and  gave  up.  I  tried  to  rub 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


and  shake  him  back  into  life,  but  I  knew  83 
it  was  no  use  when  I  saw  a  pale  blue 
flame *  hovering  over  his  body.  I  had  seen 
such  a  flame  once  before,  when  my  father 
died,"  —  his  voice  sank  almost  to  a  whis 
per, —  "and  I  knew  that  his  spirit  had 
passed.  The  light  moved  away  across  the 
snow  until  I  lost  it  in  the  thickness  of  the 
night.  I  followed  the  direction  it  had  taken 
as  well  as  I  could.  Perhaps  that  is  why  I 
am  here  to-day." 

"The  poor  little  wife  is  gone,  I  hear," 
said  a  listening  comrade,  "and  the  old 
man  at  the  house  tells  a  strange  story  of 
the  master's  return,  and  of  a  blue  flame 
that  vanished  through  the  snow  tunnel." 

"Then  Saito  was  right,"  said  Maruki, 
with  a  sigh ;  "  he  did  go  and  tell  his  wife. 
Poor  little  woman  I  She  was  not  a  widow 
very  long ! " 

1  It  is  a  common  belief  in  Japan  that  the  recently 
freed  soul  is  visible  in  the  shape  of  a  luminous  ball 
or  blue  flame  immediately  after  death. 


THE  BLUE  FLAME 


IV 


THE  INDEPENDENCE  OF  SABURO 


IV 

IT  was  the  month  of  June,  and  a  great 
festival  of  the  Sanno  Temple  was  in  full 
swing.  The  streets  were  alive  with  ex 
citement  and  brilliant  with  lanterns.  The 
whole  length  of  Kojimachi-dori  was  lined 
with  gay  booths  and  crowded  with  sight 
seers.  Here  and  there  the  beat  of  drums, 
the  clashing  of  cymbals,  and  the  antics 
and  grimaces  of  mummers  held  the  crowd 
for  a  moment  before  some  fantastic  festival 
car.  Off  in  the  side  streets  were  to  be 
heard  the  rhythmic  shouts  of  boys,  who 
rushed  about  with  square  red  lanterns, 
bearing  a  miniature  festival  car  high  on 
their  shoulders. 

To  Saburo  Nozaki,  sitting  alone  at  home, 
in  charge  of  his  father's  shop,  the  cheerful 
sounds  carried  nothing  but  misery.  He  sat 
at  his  little  table  figuring  out  the  day's 

THE  INDEPENDENCE  OF  SABURO 


88  accounts  by  the  light  of  a  small  hanging- 
lamp.  The  shop  front  was  wide  open  to 
the  narrow,  dark  side  street,  and  now  and 
then  a  wandering  jinrikisha-man's  lantern 
flashed  by,  but  for  the  most  part  the  street 
was  empty,  for  it  was  away  from  the  centre 
of  the  festival,  and  every  one  who  could 
leave  his  work  had  gone  to  the  great 
celebration.  Only  Saburo  seemed  left  of 
all  the  populous  neighborhood,  and  as  he 
fingered  his  soroban^  and  wrote  out  his 
accounts,  the  cheerful  hum  of  the  festival 
just  around  the  corner  simply  increased  his 
sense  of  desertion. 

Saburo  was  thoroughly  tired  of  the  shop. 
He  had  been  born  in  it,  or  rather  in  the 
room  just  behind  it.  His  babyhood  had 
been  passed  watching  its  business  over  his 
mother's  shoulder ;  and  when  he  had  been 
removed  from  his  perch  on  her  back  to 
make  room  for  a  baby  sister,  he  had  at  once 
begun  to  make  himself  useful.  At  first  he 

1  The  abacus  used  in  the  East  by  all  merchants  in 
reckoning. 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


could  only  run  back  and  forth  between  the  89 
fireproof  storehouse  and  the  salesroom, 
carrying  rolls  of  silk  and  cotton.  Later,  he 
had  pulled  a  small  hand-cart  about  the 
streets,  acting  at  once  as  horse  and  deliv 
ery  clerk.  And  now,  since  he  had  learned 
to  count  with  the  soroban,  he  sat  all  day  on 
his  heels,  bowing  and  smiling  and  propiti 
ating  customers,  measuring  and  counting 
and  writing  out  bills,  until  it  seemed  to 
him  that  he  could  bear  it  no  longer.  His 
older  brothers,  Taro  and  Jiro,  good,  honest, 
unambitious  youths,  adapted  themselves 
readily  to  the  routine  of  the  shop,  but 
Saburo  chafed  under  it  and  longed  for  a 
change.  He  was  eighteen  now,  and  still 
his  only  view  of  the  world  was  what  he 
could  see  of  the  street  from  under  the 
heavy  black  curtains  that  draped  the  front 
of  the  salesroom. 

How  irksome  the  life  was  to  a  proud 
spirit  that  felt  itself  set  apart  for  better 
things !  And  now  to-night,  when  the  great 
est  festival  in  a  cycle  of  sixty  years  was 

THE  INDEPENDENCE  OF  SABURO 


go  going  on  close  by,  and  on  the  great  last 
night  of  all  the  three,  his  father  had  taken 
the  rest  of  the  family  to  see  the  sights, 
and  had  left  poor  Saburo  alone  at  home 
to  guard  the  shop  and  wait  upon  improb 
able  customers.  It  was  too  much  !  Saburo 
counted  and  wrote  and  counted  again,  but 
the  bursts  of  gayety  from  Kojimachi  con 
fused  his  reckoning,  and  he  gave  up  at  last 
and  settled  down  to  listen  and  wish. 

Suddenly  the  wish  became  the  father  of 
a  thought  —  a  great  thought  —  an  auda 
cious  thought.  It  had  sometimes  come  be 
fore  into  Saburo's  head,  though  he  had  never 
seen  the  way  clear  to  its  accomplishment, 
but  to-night  was  the  very  night  for  it. 

The  boy  reached  out  from  where  he  sat 
to  a  drawer  in  the  wall,  and  drew  from 
thence  a  heavy,  iron-bound  box,  the  till  of 
the  establishment.  This  he  opened  with  a 
key  from  his  girdle,  counted  out  fifty  yen 
with  methodical  exactness,  set  down  his 
name  in  the  account-book  opposite  to  that 
amount,  then  closed  and  locked  the  box 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


and  returned  it  to  its  drawer.  The  money  91 
he  tucked  away  in  his  belt.  Then  he  rose, 
carried  the  key  into  the  back  room  and 
hung  it  on  the  wall,  slid  all  the  wooden 
shutters  but  one  into  place  across  the  front 
of  the  shop,  stepped  out  into  the  street, 
closed  the  last  shutter,  and  walked  off  into 
the  darkness,  away  from  the  lights  and 
noise  of  the  festival.  He  did  not  care  where 
he  went.  All  he  wanted  was  to  get  away 
from  the  close  confinement,  the  unvarying 
monotony  of  the  shop. 

For  an  hour  or  so  he  wandered  about 
dark  and  narrow  streets,  not  daring  to 
show  himself  in  the  wider,  brightly  lighted 
thoroughfares,  lest  he  should  be  recog 
nized  by  some  chance  acquaintance  and  his 
great  plan  be  frustrated  at  its  beginning. 

It  was  ten  o'clock,  and  even  the  business 
streets  were  putting  up  their  shutters  for 
the  night,  when  the  youth  drifted  aimlessly 
into  a  broad  avenue,  almost  deserted  at 
that  hour,  which  he  recognized  as  the  one 
that  led  to  the  northern  railway  station. 

THE  INDEPENDENCE  OF  SABURO 


92  Then  a  new  thought  struck  him,  and  he 
pushed  forward  with  the  energy  of  a  de 
finite  purpose.  When  he  reached  the  sta 
tion  a  bell  was  ringing,  and  the  north-bound 
train  was  puffing  on  the  track.  He  pur 
chased  a  third-class  ticket,  selecting  his 
destination  —  Nishi  Nasu-no  —  at  random 
from  the  time-table  hanging  on  the  wall, 
rushed  through  the  gate,  and  curled  him 
self  up  in  the  corner  of  an  empty  carriage. 
By  noon  of  the  following  day,  Saburo 
found  himself,  after  a  long  morning's  walk, 
close  to  the  beautiful  mountain  region  that 
surrounds  the  gorge  of  Shiobara.  His 
morning  had  not  been  one  of  unalloyed 
pleasure  in  his  independence.  The  girls  at 
the  tea-house,  where  he  had  stopped  and 
called  for  breakfast,  had  met  his  air  of 
assumed  importance  with  derisive  giggles 
and  mocking  obeisances,  and  had  given 
him,  not  the  cool,  retired  upper  room  that 
he  had  demanded,  but  a  place  close  to  the 
street,  noisy  and  sunny,  where  he  had  eaten 
his  meal  in  full  sight  of  the  public,  and 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


of  all  the  employees  of  the  hotel  kitchen.      93 
Then  the   morning's  walk  had  been  hot 
and  tiresome,  —  a  straight,  shadeless  road 
pointing  directly  toward  the  mountains. 

Saburo  found  himself  tired  and  hungry 
enough  when  he  sat  down  to  rest  and  eat 
his  lunch  in  front  of  a  tea-house  that  stood 
just  where  the  road  entered  a  beautiful 
mountain  gorge. 

"  Elder  sister,  where  does  this  road  go?  " 
he  asked  of  the  bright-eyed,  red-cheeked 
girl  who  waited  on  him. 

"  To  Shiobara,"  she  said  ;  adding,  "  It 
is  seven  miles  to  the  first  village." 

As  Saburo  looked  at  the  steep,  rocky 
road  ahead,  he  felt  sure  that  he  needed 
some  stimulus  to  carry  him  over  those 
seven  miles  to  the  village,  and  he  ordered 
from  the  "  elder  sister"  a  gourd  full  of 
sake,  which  he  hung  at  his  belt.  Then  he 
pressed  on,  and  the  mountains  closed  about 
him. 

He  seemed  to  be  entering  the  very 
bowels  of  the  earth,  and  the  roaring  of  the 

THE  INDEPENDENCE  OF  SABURO 


94  torrent  below  him,  the  awful  grandeur  of 
the  peaks  above,  impressed  his  unsophis 
ticated  soul  with  a  strange  uneasiness.  He 
remembered  all  the  weird  tales  that  he  had 
heard  from  his  childhood,  of  the  mountain 
gods  and  goblins,  of  the  spirits  of  the  dead 
that  mow  and  gibber  by  the  roadside,  of 
the  foxes  and  badgers  that  work  strange 
enchantments  on  unwary  travelers,  and 
as  each  horrid  detail  came  before  his  mind, 
he  took  a  pull  at  the  sake  bottle  to  brace 
up  his  courage.  And  so,  as  the  day  waned, 
his  steps  grew  heavier  and  heavier,  and 
his  brain  more  and  more  confused,  until, 
at  last,  he  felt  sure  that  he  could  not 
reach  the  village  for  which  he  was  bound 
before  the  night  fell. 

He  sat  down  by  the  roadside  and  won 
dered  what  he  should  do,  and  how  he 
should  pass  the  night ;  and  as  he  sat  there, 
he  saw  a  young  girl  coming  out  of  the 
woods,  carrying  a  bucket  of  water.  She 
was  dressed  after  the  country  fashion,  with 
her  kimono  tucked  up  to  her  knees,  show- 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


ing  her  red   petticoat  below.   She  wore      95 
white  silk  leggins  and  straw  sandals,  and 
she  walked  lightly  and  gracefully  with  her 
load,  in  the  dog-trot  of  the  mountain  pea 
sant. 

Saburo  rose  as  she  passed,  and  she 
stopped  and  set  down  her  bucket. 

"  Honorable  maiden,"  he  said,  "  can  you 
tell  me  of  any  house  near  here  where  I  can 
get  a  meal  and  a  bed  ?  " 

She  bowed  and  smiled  as  she  answered, 
"  I  have  a  very  humble  roadside  booth  just 
beyond  the  turn  of  the  road  where  your 
honor  can  obtain  refreshment,  though  of 
poor  quality." 

Saburo  started  up,  his  tired,  unsteady 
legs  reeling  under  him,  and  followed  the 
girl  a  few  paces,  to  a  spot  where  the 
smallest  of  roadside  eating-shops  had  been 
placed,  almost  overhanging  the  torrent. 
How  cool  and  inviting  it  looked !  Screens 
of  bamboo  across  the  front  shut  it  off  from 
undue  publicity.  A  small  stream  of  water 
from  a  bamboo  pipe  plashed  pleasantly  into 

THE  INDEPENDENCE  OF  SABURO 


96  a  stone  tank  close  by,  and  over  the  hibachi 
the  kettle  was  bubbling.  Cups  and  plates 
and  various  comestibles  showed  that  the 
small  establishment  could  furnish  a  meal, 
and  it  was  with  a  sigh  of  relief  that  Saburo 
slipped  his  tired  feet  out  of  his  clogs,  bathed 
them  in  the  cool  sparkling  water  from  the 
tank,  and  seated  himself  on  the  matted 
platform  that  made  the  guest-room. 

"  While  I  am  preparing  the  poor  meal, 
would  your  honor  condescend  to  drink  a 
cup  of  ama-zake  ?  "  1  said  the  silvery  voice 
of  the  girl. 

"  Thank  you,  I  shall  be  glad  to  take  it," 
answered  Saburo,  holding  his  head  up  with 
an  attempt  at  dignity,  as  he  felt  that  now 
he  had  found  some  one  who  addressed  him 
with  the  deference  due  to  his  independent 
position. 

The  girl,  who  to  Saburo' s  eyes  grew 
more  beautiful  every  minute,  brought  a 
steaming  bowl  of  the  thick  white  liquor 
and  set  it  down  in  front  of  him.  He  drank 

1  A  thick,  sweet,  slightly  fermented  rice-soup. 

IN   THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


it,  sucking  it  down  with  gulps  and  smacks     97 
of  satisfaction. 

"  That  is  food  and  drink  both,"  he  said, 
as  the  maiden  brought  him  another  brim 
ming  bowl. 

Cheered  by  the  gracious  glow  which  the 
comforting  draught  diffused  through  his 
entire  being,  Saburo  sat  and  watched  his 
beautiful  friend  while  she  attended  to  her 
lowly  tasks.  At  last  he  spoke,  and  his 
voice  was  husky  with  emotion. 

"  It  is  strange  and  sad,  that  so  beautiful 
a  maiden  as  you  should  waste  her  life  up 
here  in  these  wild  mountains.  Why  do 
you  stay  in  such  a  place  ?  If  you  went  to 
Tokyo,  you  would  soon  make  a  good 
marriage/' 

The  girl  looked  at  him  before  she  an 
swered,  and  Saburo  felt  as  if  his  soul  were 
on  fire. 

"  Sometimes  I  have  thought  I  would  like 
to  go  out  and  see  the  world,"  she  said, 
"  but  I  am  the  only  child  of  my  old  mother, 
and  she  would  not  consent  to  my  going," 

THE  INDEPENDENCE  OF  SABURO 


98  and  she  wept,  holding  her  sleeves  before 
her  face. 

"  And  now  my  mother  is  dead,  and  I 
have  no  brother,  nor  any  friends."  She 
wept  quietly  behind  her  sleeves  for  a  space, 
her  body  shaking  with  the  violence  of  her 
emotion ;  then  she  uncovered  her  face. 
Saburo  felt  her  eyes  looking  deep  into 
his  heart.  "  If  you  do  not  object  to  my 
humble  birth,"  she  continued,  "  and  since 
you  sympathize  with  my  grief,  please  take 
me  with  you  to  Tokyo,  and  teach  me  how 
to  sweep  and  wash  floors."  Then  she  hid 
her  face  once  more  behind  her  sleeves. 

Saburo' s  head  was  fairly  turned  by  such 
a  show  of  confidence,  and  he  reached  for 
ward  and  patted  the  poor  girl's  shoulder 
as  she  sat  with  covered  face  on  the  edge 
of  the  matted  platform. 

"  Do  not  feel  so  sad,"  he  said ;  "I  will 
find  you  a  place  where  you  will  be  much 
better  off  than  here." 

The  maiden  looked  with  one  eye  from 
behind  her  sleeves.  Saburo  gently  pulled 

IN   THE  LAND   OF  THE   GODS 


down  her  hands  until  her  whole  face  was      99 
visible.    "  How  can  I  ever  reward  you  for 
your  kindness  ?  "  she  whispered. 

By  the  time  he  had  eaten  supper  it  was 
quite  dark,  and  Saburo  began  to  wonder 
where  he  could  spend  the  night,  for  the  little 
tea-house  was  simply  an  open  booth. 

"  Where  do  you  live  ?  "  he  asked  of  his 
entertainer. 

"  Quite  near  here,"  she  answered,  "  and 
if  you  can  endure  my  rude  and  squalid 
home,  I  can  give  you  a  bed  there  for  to 
night." 

She  extinguished  the  coals  in  the  hibachi 
by  dropping  them  into  a  pot  of  water, 
using  for  the  purpose  a  pair  of  fire-sticks, 
one  of  bamboo  and  one  of  bone.  Saburo' s 
superstitious  soul  shuddered  a  little  when 
he  saw  her  do  it,  for  he  knew  that  in  Tokyo 
such  sticks  were  used  only  in  collecting 
the  ashes  of  the  dead.  But  he  remem 
bered  that  she  was  only  a  country  girl, 
and  could  not  be  expected  to  know  all  the 
Tokyo  customs.  Then  she  closed  the  shut- 

THE  INDEPENDENCE  OF  SABURO 


ioo  ters  about  the  little  guest-room,  and  taking 
a  white  lantern1  in  her  hand,  she  led  the 
way  into  the  woods.  To  Saburo  there  was 
something  uncanny  about  the  white  lan 
tern.  It  was  like  a  funeral  procession,  he 
thought,  but  he  said  nothing. 

There  was  a  muttering  of  thunder  among 
the  hills,  and  zigzag  lightning  flashed  from 
a  black  cloud  overhead.  The  way  seemed 
longer  than  Saburo  had  expected,  but  at 
last  his  guide  stopped,  just  as  a  flash  of 
lightning  revealed  a  miserable  dilapidated 
cottage.  The  paper  of  the  sliding  screens 
was  flapping  like  ghostly  garments  in  the 
wind,  the  plaster  of  the  walls  had  fallen  in 
places,  showing  the  bamboo  skeleton  of 
the  house,  the  roof  seemed  breaking  down 
under  its  load  of  stones,  and  the  floor  gave 
and  creaked  dismally  as  they  stepped  up  on 
the  dirty  mats. 

On  one  side  of  the  room  was  a  broken 
screen,  inverted ; 2  two  of  the  floor  mats  had 

1  White  lanterns  are  used  only  at  funerals. 

2  Sign  of  the  presence  of  a  corpse. 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


been  taken  up,  and  a  clean"  hew  tub,' bucket,  ioi 
and  dipper  stood  on  the  rotten  boards  in 
the  place  thus  left  bare.1  Saburo  shuddered. 
What  did  all  this  mean  ?  His  legs,  which 
had  been  painfully  weak  for  several  hours, 
nearly  gave  way  beneath  him. 

"  My  mother  lies  there  dead,"  said  the 
girl  in  explanation.  "  I  have  not  been  able 
to  bury  her  yet,  but  I  will  bury  her  to-mor 
row  before  we  start.  Wait  here  a  little 
while,  for  I  must  go  and  find  a  priest  to 
attend  the  funeral,"  and  the  maiden  dis 
appeared  in  the  darkness,  leaving  Saburo 
alone  with  the  dead. 

He  tried  to  call,  but  his  voice  was  choked ; 
he  tried  to  move,  but  his  legs  refused  to 
carry  him.  He  could  only  sit  and  wait  for 
the  return  of  his  hostess,  the  horror  of  the 
place  freezing  his  blood  the  while. 

It  was  deadly  silent  in  the  woods.    He 
would  have  been  grateful  even  for  a  thun 
der-clap  to  break  the  silence,  but  the  storm 
had  passed.   Suddenly  the  clouds  parted, 
1  Preparations  for  washing  a  corpse. 

THE  INDEPENDENCE  OF  SABURO 


102  and  the  moonlight  streamed  through  a 
hole  in  the  roof  right  into  the  room. 

Saburo  found  himself  filled  with  a  strange 
desire  to  look  behind  the  screen,  to  see 
whether  the  girl  had  told  him  the  truth. 
Slowly,  on  hands  and  knees,  he  crept 
across  the  floor.  Softly  he  moved  the 
screen  away.  It  was  too  true !  There,  on 
the  floor,  covered  with  a  white  quilt,  sat 
a  rigid  figure,  its  knees  drawn  up  to  its 
chin. 

Saburo  crept  closer  and  removed  the 
covering  from  the  face.  Horror  of  horrors  ! 
It  was  the  face  of  his  beautiful  hostess.  But 
even  as  he  looked  at  it,  the  hair  became 
snowy  white,  the  eyes  grew  hollow,  the 
parchment-like  skin  stretched  tense  across 
the  nose,  and  the  face  changed  to  that  of 
a  demon. 

Poor  Saburo,  not  daring  to  turn  his  back 
on  the  awful  object,  retreated  backward. 
The  dead,  raising  her  head,  hitched  for 
ward  across  the  floor.  Saburo  backed 
again.  Once  more  the  thing  moved  toward 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


him,  and  once  more  he  backed.    It  came    103 
close,  —  closer,  —  then  suddenly,  opening 
its  mouth  wide,  it  sneezed,  and  Saburo,  for 
getting  his  fatigue,  turned  and  ran  madly 
away  from  that  terrible  place. 

Next  morning  a  peasant,  leading  his 
shock-headed  pony  loaded  with  grass  along 
the  mountain  road,  saw,  far  beneath  him, 
close  to  the  brawling  torrent,  what  looked 
like  the  body  of  a  man.  Scrambling  down, 
he  found  poor  Saburo,  not  dead,  but 
badly  bruised.  With  much  labor  and  suf 
fering  he  was  at  last  dragged  up  to  the 
road. 

How  familiar  the  whole  place  looked  to 
him  when  he  opened  his  eyes  !  There  was 
the  turn  in  the  road  near  which  he  had  sat 
down,  there  the  footpath  along  which  the 
girl  had  come  with  the  bucket  of  water. 
A  great  terror  came  over  him. 

"  Do  not  take  me  to  the  rest-house  be 
yond  the  turn,"  he  begged  of  his  kind- 
hearted  rescuer. 

"What   rest-house?   There   is  no   rest- 

THE  INDEPENDENCE  OF  SABURO 


IO4  house  near  here,"  said  the  bewildered 
peasant. 

Then  Saburo  told  him  his  story,  but  the 
man  only  shook  his  head.  "  There  is  no 
rest-house  here,  nor  ever  has  been,"  he 
said,  "  but  there  are  foxes  that  live  in  the 
temple  of  Inari  Sama1  up  in  the  woods 
there,"  and  he  pointed  toward  the  foot 
path.  "They  have  bewitched  you,  and 
you  should  thank  the  gods  that  you  have 
escaped  alive." 

Two  days  later,  Saburo,  bruised  and 
tired,  stepped  out  of  his  clogs  and  pros 
trated  himself  on  his  face  in  his  father's 
shop.  "I  have  returned,"  he  said,  as  he 
bowed  to  his  parents.  Then  he  went  back 
to  his  measuring  stick,  his  soroban,  and 
his  account-books. 

1  Inari  Sama,  the  god  or  goddess  of  rice,  whose  mes 
senger  the  fox  is  supposed  to  be.  Sometimes  known 
as  the  Fox-God. 


IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


V 


KITSUNfi  YASHIKI 


Kitsunt  Yashiki,  "  The  Foxes'  Mansion." 


V 


MlNOKICHI  sat  on  the  edge  of  the  little 
open  shop,  his  feet  in  his  clogs,  his  staff  in 
his  hand,  ready  for  the  afternoon's  work. 
His  face,  bearing  the  curiously  refined 
expression  that  belongs  to  the  blind,  was 
turned  toward  O  Koto  San,  who,  with  her 
baby  tied  to  her  back,  sat  on  her  heels  be 
hind  the  minute  stock  in  trade.  So  small 
and  so  cheap  was  it  that  five  dollars  would 
probably  have  bought  it  all.  A  few  pairs  of 
straw  sandals,  a  pattern  or  two  of  blue-and- 
white  toweling,  a  pile  of  broad-brimmed 
hats,  a  small  variety  of  cakes,  and  some 
eggs,  —  these  were  the  entire  contents  of 
the  shop.  But  O  Koto  San  sat  at  the  re 
ceipt  of  custom,  as  proud  and  happy  in  her 
new  business  as  if  she  were  conducting  the 
great  Mitsui1  silk-store  on  Ginza.2 

1  One  of  the  great  merchant  firms  of  Japan. 

2  The  principal  business  street  of  Tokyo. 

KITSUN&  YASHIKI 


io8  Minokichi  was  a  blind  amma,  or  masseur, 
who  earned  a  certain  but  scanty  living 
by  his  trade.  Every  afternoon,  when  the 
great  bell  of  the  temple  tolled  out  its  four 
slow  strokes,  Minokichi,  staff  in  hand  and 
whistle  in  mouth,  walked  up  and  down  the 
streets  of  Ushigome,1  stopping  wherever 
called,  to  smooth  and  rub  and  soothe  and 
pat  any  tired  body  who,  after  the  hot  bath, 
might  feel  the  need  of  further  comforting. 
Some  days,  when  he  was  fortunate,  he 
earned  as  much  as  twenty  cents.  Once  he 
had  been  summoned  to  a  great  house, 
where  he  had  worked  for  an  hour  or  two 
over  a  man  whose  silken  garment  proved 
that  he  was  prosperous,  and  had  pocketed 
for  his  fee  a  fifty-cent  note  ;  but  such  luck 
had  never  come  to  him  again.  It  had  taken 
him  a  long  time  to  save  enough  to  marry, 
and  when  the  wedding  was  over,  the  go- 
between  and  the  fortune-teller  paid,  the 
presents  sent  to  the  bride's  family,  the  tiny 
hired  house  new-papered  and  fitted  up 
One  of  the  districts  of  Tokyo. 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


with  the  very  few  articles  necessary  for  109 
Japanese  housekeeping,  and  the  wedding 
feast  paid  for,  not  only  was  the  long-saved 
hoard  all  gone,  but  he  had  been  obliged 
to  put  in  pawn  every  garment  he  possessed 
that  was  not  at  the  time  in  actual  use. 

And  so  O  Koto  San,  a  red-cheeked, 
curly-haired  country  girl,  whose  round 
body  seemed  always  trying  to  work  its 
way  out  of  her  garments,  came  into  the 
humblest  of  homes  and  took  up  the  task 
of  making  life  for  two  cheaper  and  hap 
pier  than  life  for  one.  A  good  little  wife 
she  had  proved  to  be,  —  in  every  respect 
exactly  as  the  go-between  had  said.  She 
kept  the  tiny  house  as  neat  as  her  willing 
hands  could  make  it.  She  managed  the 
scanty  supply  of  charcoal  so  that  every 
piece  did  some  work  for  the  family,  no 
grain  of  rice  was  ever  wasted  by  her  in 
cooking  or  in  clearing  away,  and  the  addi 
tional  luxuries  of  the  Japanese  table,  soups, 
fish,  beans,  greens,  mochi^  at  New  Year's, 
1  Rice-dumpling,  a  special  festival  dish. 

KITSUN&  YASHIKI 


no  and  vermicelli  at  O  Bon,  made  their  ap 
pearance  with  due  regularity.  She  took 
in  cigarettes  to  roll  in  her  spare  time,  and 
added  to  Minokichi's  earnings  the  tidy 
little  sum  of  a  dollar  to  a  dollar  and  a  half 
a  month  by  her  own  labor.  Minokichi 
brought  her  all  his  wages,  and  whenever 
he  wanted  money  there  was  some  in  her 
hands  for  him.  He  always  had  wherewith 
to  pay  for  a  hot  bath  at  the  public  bath 
house  ;  his  tobacco  pouch  was  never 
empty;  he  could  entertain  his  friends  at 
an  eel-house,  or  a  macaroni-shop,  or  in  his 
own  home,  and  O  Koto  San  never  told 
him  that  there  was  no  money  for  such  fool 
ishness,  as  did  the  thrifty  wife  of  the  car 
penter  next  door  when  her  husband  went 
to  her  for  change  to  meet  emergencies  of 
like  nature. 

Surely  Minokichi  was  a  lucky  man,  in 
spite  of  his  blindness.  He  had  been  mar 
ried  nearly  two  years  now,  and  a  baby  boy 
had  come  to  cement  the  union  even  more 
closely.  O  Koto  San  worked,  if  such  a 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


thing  were  possible,  more  diligently  with  1 1 1 
her  baby  tied  to  her  shoulders  than  she 
had  at  the  beginning.  Her  rosy  face  was 
perhaps  a  thought  less  rosy,  her  curly 
hair  a  trifle  less  abundant,  but  she  was  just 
as  cheerful  and  energetic  in  her  care  for 
two  as  she  had  been  when  her  husband 
was  her  only  thought.  The  little  shop  was 
her  idea,  and  the  stock  in  trade  the  saving 
from  her  cigarette  work.  They  lived  on  the 
very  edge  of  Tokyo,  just  where  the  city 
streets  turn  into  narrow  lanes  and  then  into 
the  dyked  roadways  across  the  rice-fields. 
Koto's  shrewd  business  sense  realized  that 
if  she  had  to  offer  to  passing  jinrikisha- 
men  just  such  things  as  they  might  need 
when  starting  out  for  a  long  country  run 
or  returning,  she  might  make  a  profit  from 
her  savings.  And  so  the  things  had  been 
bought  and  set  in  place,  and  already  more 
than  one  kurumaya  had  discovered  the 
smiling  face  of  the  shop-keeper,  and  had 
bought  from  her,  exchanging  at  the  same 
time  a  few  pleasant  words,  for  the  sake  of 

KITSUN£  YASHIKI 


H2  her  bright  eyes,  her  shining  teeth,  and  her 
low  bows. 

Minokichi  was  waiting  for  the  temple 
bell  to  strike,  and  as  the  first  deep  boom 
sounded  he  rose  to  his  feet,  struck  the 
ground  with  his  staff,  and  felt  his  way  out 
into  the  narrow  road. 

"  If  I  am  late,"  he  said,  "  close  the  shut 
ters,  and  I  will  call  you  when  I  come.  I  am 
going  to  try  a  new  part  of  the  district. 
Perhaps  I  can  find  that  rich  man  again 
who  gave  me  so  much  money  once.  He 
was  over  near  Koishikawa." 1  He  moved 
cautiously  down  the  street,  rapping  his 
stick  on  the  ground  and  blowing  his  whis 
tle,  signs  to  all  passers  that  a  blind  amma 
was  on  the  march. 

It  was  nearly  six  o'clock,  and  the  sun 
was  low  at  his  back,  when  Minokichi,  tap 
ping  and  whistling,  reached  the  northeast 
corner  of  Ushigome,  close  to  the  Koishi 
kawa  district.  He  had  spent  about  an  hour 
at  one  of  his  regular  places  of  call,  rubbing 
i  One  of  the  districts  of  Tokyo. 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


and  kneading  the  head  and  shoulders  of  113 
an  overworked  newspaper-man,  preparing 
him  for  his  night  at  the  office.  For  this 
service  he  had  received,  with  many  bows 
and  protestations  of  gratitude,  the  sum  of 
eight  cents,  carefully  folded  in  white  paper. 
Then  he  had  felt  his  way,  by  the  sun  at 
his  back  and  the  autumn  wind  on  his  left 
cheek,  along  the  narrow,  crooked  streets, 
to  the  very  border  of  his  own  district.  Here 
he  paused,  wondering  whether  it  would  be 
better  to  go  on  to  Koishikawa,  or  to  return 
by  devious  routes  to  O  Koto  San,  trusting 
to  chance  for  one  or  two  more  calls  on  the 
way. 

As  he  stood  in  hesitation  he  heard  a 
voice,  a  sharp,  boy's  voice,  of  curiously 
staccato  utterance.  "  Amm'  San ! " 1  it  said. 

Minokichi  cocked  his  head  in  the  direc 
tion  from  which  the  sound  came  and  an 
swered  "  Hai ! " 

i  Amma  San,  "  Mr.  Amma."  The  clipped  utter 
ance  in  this  and  in  other  speeches  is  quite  un-Japanese, 
and  must  have  sounded  foreign  to  Minokichi. 

KITSUN£  YASHIKI 


H4  Then  he  heard  the  soft  pat-pat  of  bare 
running  feet.  They  sounded  like  a  dog's 
feet,  he  thought,  as  they  came  near  him, 
and  he  was  almost  surprised  when  the 
boy's  voice  close  by  said  "Come,"  and 
a  small,  firm  hand  took  hold  of  his  and 
began  to  lead  him,  not  toward  Koishikawa, 
nor  yet  toward  his  home,  but  northward 
across  the  rice-fields  along  the  city's  edge. 
He  walked  for  miles,  clutched  by  the  firm 
little  hand.  "The  master  is  ill,"  was  all 
the  answer  that  his  guide  gave  to  his 
inquiries.  The  sun  had  long  been  down  ; 
he  could  feel  the  chill  of  the  autumn 
evening,  and  hear  the  shrill  piping  of  the 
autumn  insects,  before  they  reached  their 
destination. 

"  Careful  I  Amm'  San,"  called  the  shrill 
staccato  voice,  and  Minokichi  reached  with 
his  stick  to  feel  the  stone  threshold  of  a 
gateway.  Then  a  muffled  bell  sounded,  and 
he  felt  against  his  cheek  the  slight  stirring 
of  the  air  caused  by  the  bell-rope  in  the 
hands  of  his  guide. 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


"  Is  it  a  temple  or  a  yashiki?" l  asked  115 
Minokichi  of  himself,  for  he  had  long  before 
ceased  trying  to  get  information  from  his 
taciturn  young  escort.  "  That  bell  and  rope 
seem  like  the  entrance  to  a  temple.  Per 
haps  it  is  a  priest  who  is  ill,  and  this  is  his 
acolyte." 

Then  came  the  swift  rattle  of  a  sliding 
lattice,  and  as  he  bowed  and  entered  the 
narrow  doorway  that  he  knew  must  be  in 
front  of  him,  he  heard  the  soft,  sibilant  purr 
of  sliding  shojiy  and  the  patter  of  tafo-shod 
feet  upon  matted  floors. 

"  Good-evening,"  he  said,  sucking  in  his 
breath  and  bending  double  as  he  stood  at 
the  entrance  of  the  house. 

The  small,  firm  hand  that  had  led  him 
relaxed  its  grasp. 

"Amm'  San,"  came  the  sound  of  a 
woman's  voice,  "  you  are  welcome  !  Enter, 
if  you  please  ! " 

Minokichi  slipped  from  his  clogs  to  the 

i  A  great  house,  belonging  to  a  noble  or  samurai 
of  high  rank. 

KITSUN&  YASHIKI 


n6  polished  wooden  step,  then  up  to  the  floor 
above,  and  fell  on  his  knees  with  his  fore 
head  to  the  mats,  sucking  in  his  breath,  and 
murmuring  in  politest  terms  his  desire  to 
be  of  service  to  the  master. 

"  Come  quickly,  please ! "  It  was  the 
woman's  voice  again,  so  anxious,  so  hur 
ried,  with  utterance  so  clipped  and  abrupt, 
that  Minokichi  could  hardly  understand 
her  words.  A  soft  hand  slipped  into  his, 
and  he  was  led  by  passageways  with 
polished  wooden  floors  and  through  spa 
cious  matted  apartments,  sweet-smelling 
with  the  odors  of  fresh  straw  and  aromatic 
cedar. 

"  A  great  lord's yashiki"  thought  Mino 
kichi,  as  he  sniffed  the  air  and  felt  the 
polished  wood  beneath  his  feet. 

"  This  is  the  master's  room.  Enter,"  said 
the  woman's  voice  again,  and  a  sound  of 
sobbing  followed. 

Once  more  Minokichi  fell  on  his  face 
and  with  his  forehead  to  the  mats.  The 
sobbing  ceased,  and  in  the  silence  he  heard 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


long,  gasping  breaths,  as  if  some  one  lay    117 
dying  close  beside  him. 

"  This  is  the  master,"  said  the  voice  again. 
"  Do  what  you  can  to  make  him  easier." 

With  deft  and  tender  touch  Minokichi 
placed  his  practiced  fingers  on  the  quiver 
ing  body  at  his  side.  In  spite  of  his  awe 
and  sympathy,  a  pleasant  thought  came  to 
his  mind.  The  master  wore  a  wadded  silk 
kimono,  and  visions  of  his  former  princely 
patron  came  before  him  to  make  him  work 
with  redoubled  skill  and  patience.  He  felt 
the  rigid  muscles  relax  little  by  little  under 
his  hand,  the  convulsive  quivering  cease, 
the  labored  breathing  grow  soft  and  reg 
ular. 

For  hours  he  worked  over  the  sufferer, 
and  at  last,  as  he  stopped  to  wipe  the 
streaming  perspiration  from  his  face,  the 
woman's  voice,  quieter  and  less  anxious, 
said  to  him,  "That  is  enough,  Amm'  San. 
You  are  very  skillful.  The  master  b  really 
resting  now.  Come  with  me  and  rest  your 
self  awhile.  You  must  be  tired." 

KITSUN6  YASHIKI 


n8  Minokichi  bowed,  and  murmured  very 
softly  his  formula  of  self-depreciation.  Then 
a  soft  hand  took  hold  of  his  and  led  him 
from  the  room. 

"  Forgive  our  rudeness,"  said  the  voice 
again,  "  in  that  we  offered  you  no  refresh 
ment  when  you  came.  The  master  was  suf 
fering  so  that  we  were  forgetful  of  all  else. 
Kindly  accept  this  tea,  and  smoke  your 
pipe,  and  soon  there  will  be  some  humble 
repast  ready  for  you  before  you  leave  us." 

Minokichi  was  glad  enough  to  sit  in  the 
quiet  of  the  room  to  which  he  had  been  led, 
to  smoke  his  tiny  pipe  and  drink  the  tea 
set  before  him,  and  reflect  on  the  events 
of  the  evening  and  the  possibilities  of  his 
fee,  while  he  rested  from  his  protracted 
efforts.  The  time  seemed  very  short  to 
him  before  soft  footsteps  on  the  mats  and 
the  gentle  shoving  of  trays  toward  him 
told  that  the  promised  refreshment  had 
arrived. 

"It  is  a  poor  meal,"  said  the  woman's 
voice  once  more.  "  Please  pardon  it,  for 

IN   THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


we  have  been  so  troubled  by  the  master's    119 
illness." 

Minokichi  had  never  tasted  such  food  as 
the  "  poor  meal "  thus  politely  offered.  Fit 
for  the  gods,  it  seemed  to  him.  He  ate  spar 
ingly,  however,  for  he  did  not  wish  to  seem 
a  rude  and  churlish  person,  who  knew  no 
better  than  to  eat  up  clean  all  that  was 
set  before  him.  When  he  had  finished,  he 
returned  thanks  to  his  unseen  hostess,  bow 
ing  low  with  face  to  the  floor  in  the  direc 
tion  whence  came  the  sound  of  quick 
breathing,  so  rapid  that  it  seemed  to  him 
like  the  panting  of  a  dog. 

"Poor  lady,"  he  thought,  "she  is  still 
worried  about  the  master." 

As  he  left  the  house,  a  heavy  folded  white 
paper  was  placed  in  his  hand,  and  a  wooden 
box,  containing,  as  he  knew,  the  remains 
of  his  feast,  was  given  him.  In  an  ecstasy 
of  thanks  and  protestations  he  committed 
himself  to  the  firm  clutch  of  his  first  small 
guide,  whose  shrill  voice  uttered  the  single 
word,  "Come." 

KITSUN&  YASHIKI 


I2O  So  fast  the  little  feet  at  his  side  pattered 
along,  that  Minokichi  was  nearly  out  of 
breath  when  at  last  his  companion  relin 
quished  his  hold,  and  with  a  jerky  "  Say 
nar' " l  left  him  standing  alone,  staff  in 
hand.  Just  then  a  great  bell  began  to  toll, 
and  he  knew  that  he  was  near  his  own 
home,  on  the  north  edge  of  Ushigome. 
Slowly,  with  leisurely  waits  between  the 
strokes,  the  ringer  beat  out  the  hour.  It 
took  a  long  time  to  reach  the  tenth  stroke, 
and  Minokichi  was  sure  then  that  it  was 
through. 

"Koto  will  be  fast  asleep,  and  I  shall  have 
to  wake  her,"  he  said,  and  started  to  feel  his 
way  home.  "  Eleven "  boomed  the  bell, 
and  Minokichi  hurried  faster.  "  Poor  Koto! 
If  she  is  not  asleep,  she  will  be  anxious 
about  me."  "Twelve,"  and  the  whirring, 
buzzing  reverberations  seemed  close  to  his 
ear,  so  near  was  he  to  the  temple.  With 

i  Sayo  nara,  "  Good-by,"  another  example  of  the 
curious  clipping  of  speech  that  characterizes  foxes 
masquerading  as  human  beings. 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


clattering  clogs  and  tapping  staff  the  blind    121 
man  broke  into  a  run,  and  in  a  few  moments 
was  standing  by  his  own  house. 

"  Koto,"  he  called  very  softly,  so  that 
the  neighbors  should  not  be  disturbed.  His 
quick  ear  caught  the  rustle  within,  and  he 
knew  that  she  was  awake.  He  heard  her 
scratch  a  match  and  speak  a  soothing  word 
in  response  to  the  baby's  sleepy  murmur, 
then  the  wooden  shutter  was  pushed  gently 
aside,  just  wide  enough  to  admit  the  am 
mo!  s  slender  body. 

"  It  is  very  late,"  he  said  softly,  as  he 
entered,  "  but  I  have  had  such  an  even 
ing  ! "  and  he  told  her  what  had  befallen 
him.  "  The  fee  should  be  a  good  one,"  he 
said  when  he  had  finished  his  story,  "  for 
they  were  very  grand  people.  A  great 
house,  and,  oh,  such  a  supper ! " 

As  he  spoke,  he  drew  the  folded  paper 
from  his  bosom.  "  Let  us  see  what  it  is," 
he  said.  "  It 's  very  heavy !  Perhaps  they 
paid  it  all  in  tempo  sen  1 " 1 

1  A  large  oval  copper  coin,  worth  about  eight  mills. 

KITSUN&  YASHIKI 


122  He  laid  the  bundle  on  the  floor  and 
opened  it.  O  Koto's  eyes  shone  as  she  saw 
the  yellow  glint  of  the  great  gold  pieces  — 
five  of  them  —  antique  oval  oban,1  such  as 
no  one  saw  in  these  days,  except  in  pic 
tures,  or  in  yellow  tin  counterfeits  hung  to 
the  masts  of  the  "  ships  of  fortune." 

"Minokichi,  it's  all  in  gold!"  she  said 
solemnly.  "  Surely  it  must  have  been  a  great 
prince  who  called  you  in.  No  one  but  a 
prince  would  give  such  a  fee  to  an  amma  !  " 

"  Surely,  it  was  a  prince,"  said  Minoki 
chi  joyfully.  "  I  thought  so  from  the  house 
and  the  go  chiso?  And  now,  let  us  look  at 
the  go  chiso"  and  he  took  up  the  wooden 
box  that  he  had  brought  with  him.  "  Open 
it,  Koto.  You  never  tasted  such  food  in  all 
your  life." 

O  Koto  San  opened  it,  and  as  she  saw 
the  contents,  her  face  fell  and  a  look  of 
terror  came  into  it. 

1  A  large  oval  gold  coin,  worth  about  eighty  dollars. 

2  Honorable  feast,  a  term  applied  to  any  special 
delicacy  served  to  guests. 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


"  Taste  it,  Koto,  and  see  if  it 's  not  good,"  123 
insisted  Minokichi,  but  Koto  made  no  an 
swer.  "  What  is  the  matter,  Koto  ?  Why 
don't  you  say  something?"  Her  husband 
turned  his  blind  face  toward  her  expec 
tantly. 

"  Minokichi,"  she  said,  and  her  voice  was 
strange  and  scared,  "  there  is  no  food  here, 
nothing  but  grass  and  leaves.  You  have 
been  fooled,  and  may  the  gods  protect  us, 
for  I  believe  that  it  was  to  the  foxes  you 
went  to-night,  and  that  you  have  been 
bewitched." 

"There  is  the  money,"  said  Minokichi. 
"This  box  was  packed  with  grass  and 
leaves  by  mistake.  The  gold  is  here  to 
prove  that  I  was  not  bewitched,"  and  he 
clinked  the  gold  coins  together  reassur 
ingly. 

But  O  Koto  San,  who  was  from  the 
country,  and  who  knew  much  more  about 
the  ways  of  foxes  than  did  her  city-bred 
husband,  shook  her  head,  and  murmured 
something  about  "  to-morrow." 

KITSUNfi  YASHIKI 


124  They  did  not  sleep  a  great  deal  that 
night,  Minokichi  for  thinking  of  his  good 
luck,  Koto  in  dread  of  some  strange  trick 
that  the  foxes  might  have  in  store  for  them 
all.  When  morning  came,  they  were  glad 
to  rise  early  and  go  about  their  common, 
every-day  tasks.  Neither  spoke  of  last 
night's  experience  until  the  shutters  had 
been  opened,  the  beds  folded  and  laid  away 
in  the  closet,  the  floors  swept,  the  shoji 
dusted,  and  Minokichi  seated  at  his  break 
fast,  with  Koto  by  the  rice-bucket,  waiting 
to  refill  his  bowl.  Then  he  spoke  :  — 

"  Koto,  just  get  that  paper  that  I  brought 
home,  and  see  if  your  eyes  deceived  you 
last  night  about  the  gold.  If  you  are  right, 
there  will  be  nothing  here  this  morning 
but  grass,  or  at  most,  tempo  sen." 

Koto  fetched  her  little  iron-bound  cash- 
box,  opened  it  with  the  key  which  she  wore 
always  hung  about  her  neck,  and  drew  out 
the  white  paper.  Her  face  brightened  when 
she  heard  its  golden  chink,  while  her  hus 
band  laughed  triumphantly.  As  she  opened 

IN  THE   LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


it  the  coins  shone  bright  and  yellow,  no  cop-  125 
per  temp5  sen,  but  gold  oban,  without  a 
doubt.  She  dropped  them  one  by  one  upon 
the  mat,  counting  as  she  did  so.  "  One, 
two,  three,  four" —  She  shook  the  paper, 
felt  in  her  belt,  her  sleeves,  her  bosom, 
searched  the  box,  got  up  and  shook  her 
self.  Where  was  the  fifth?  One  green 
leaf  lay  on  the  floor  and  four  gold  pieces. 

"  How  many  did  we  count  last  night?" 
she  asked  of  Minokichi. 

"  Five,"  he  answered. 

"  There  ! "  she  cried,  "  it  was  the  foxes 
that  bewitched  you,  and  one  of  those 
pieces  is  a  green  leaf  this  morning !  " 

"  Nonsense  ! "  said  Minokichi.  "  You 
must  have  made  a  mistake  in  your  count 
ing  last  night.  You  were  sleepy,  and  prob 
ably  you  saw  more  than  there  were." 

He  laughed  affectionately.  Koto  was  so 
clever  and  business-like  that  it  was  rather 
pleasant  to  catch  her  in  a  mistake  once 
in  a  while.  But  Koto  would  not  accept 
his  theory.  She  was  sure  of  her  own,  and 

KITSUNfi  YASHIKI 


126  worried  lest  all  their  gold  should  depart 
as  had  the  fifth  piece. 

When  Minokichi  was  ready  for  his  after 
noon  start,  Koto,  her  baby  firmly  tied  to 
her  back,  slipped  into  her  clogs  and  stood 
beside  him.  "  If  you  go  to  your  fox-place 
again,  I  am  going  with  you,"  she  said  de 
cidedly.  "  I  at  least  can  see,  and  the  foxes 
will  not  find  me  quite  so  easy  to  fool.  O 
Kin  San  from  next  door  will  mind  the 
shop,  and  I  can  walk  as  far  and  as  fast  as 
you." 

Minokichi  demurred.  It  was  not  cus 
tomary  for  an  amma  to  go  about  his  work 
escorted  by  his  wife  and  baby.  His  princely 
patron,  if  they  should  be  lucky  enough  to 
find  their  way  to  him,  might  not  be  willing 
to  employ  a  man  so  accompanied.  But 
Koto  was  firm.  She  would  not  interfere 
with  her  husband's  business.  She  would 
follow  him  at  a  discreet  distance,  and  pre 
tend  she  had  nothing  to  do  with  him.  But 
go  she  would,  and  so  they  started,  Mino 
kichi  tapping  and  whistling  in  front,  Koto 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


and  the  baby  clattering  along  a  few  paces  127 
behind.  As  they  passed  the  house  of  the 
newspaper-man,  a  servant  who  had  been 
watching  for  the  amma  called  him  in,  and 
so  it  happened  that  the  sun  was  low  when 
the  trio  reached  the  spot  where  the  day 
before  Minokichi  had  been  accosted  by  the 
shrill-voiced,  barefooted  messenger. 

O  Koto  San,  who,  while  her  husband  was 
rubbing  the  newspaper-man,  had  visited  a 
neighboring  temple  and  made  an  offering 
and  a  prayer  to  Kwannon,  the  Goddess  of 
Mercy,  felt  fairly  bold  and  cheerful  by  now. 
The  chink  of  the  gold  was  in  her  ears,  its 
glitter  dazzled  her  eyes.  It  was  at  her  sug 
gestion  that  Minokichi  turned  northward, 
and  struck  out  by  the  dyked  roadway  in 
the  same  direction  that  he  had  taken  the 
night  before  under  guidance.  They  walked 
a  long,  long  way.  The  sun  went  down  and 
the  moon  came  up  over  the  rice-fields,  the 
wind  blew  chill,  the  dead  leaves  rattled  on 
the  trees  by  the  wayside. 

Poor  Koto  shivered,  and  called  out  to  her 

KITSUN£  YASHIKI 


128  husband  walking  in  front,  "  Let 's  go  home  1 
There  is  no  yashiki  here, — only  rice-fields 
and  a  clump  of  trees  ahead.  Come  home  ! 
Don't  you  know  by  now  that  you  were 
bewitched  last  night  ?  " 

"  Just  a  little  farther,  Koto,"  pleaded  Mi- 
nokichi.  "I  am  sure  we  are  almost  there." 

They  walked  on,  Minokichi  feeling  the 
way  very  carefully  with  his  staff.  When 
they  reached  the  clump  of  trees,  he  turned 
aside,  fumbling  with  his  stick  until  it 
sounded  on  stone.  "  Here  it  is,"  he  said, 
and  passed  under  a  low,  red  torii 1  that 
stood  hidden  among  the  giant  cedars. 

0  Koto  followed,  trembling.  It  was  a  little 
Inari 2  shrine,  and  before  it  sat  two  grinning 
stone  foxes.    Minokichi  went  swiftly  for 
ward  on  the  stone-paved  walk,  sure  of  his 
way  now,  and  passed  between  the  guardian 
images.    He  lifted  his  hand  and  swung  the 
cobwebbed,  knotted  rope  that  dangled  be- 

1  An  erection  in  the  form  of  a  gateway  that  marks 
the  approach  to  a  temple  or  sacred  place. 

2  The  god  of  rice,  whose  messengers  are  foxes. 

IN   THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


fore  a  gong  above  the  entrance.   A  dull,    129 
metallic  boom  smote  the  silence,  but  there 
was  no  sound  in  answer  to  the  summons. 
O  Koto  shuddered,  and  the  baby  struggled 
restlessly  in  its  wrappings. 

At  last  Minokichi  turned  sadly.  "  I  am 
afraid  the  master  is  dead,  for  the  house  is 
closed.  We  will  go  home  now/ 

Just  then  Koto,  whose  fears  had  not 
dulled  her  wits,  noticed  a  dark  object  ly 
ing  close  to  the  foundation  of  the  temple. 
Her  first  thought  was  to  seize  Minokichi's 
hand  and  run,  her  next,  to  find  out  now 
what  this  mystery  might  be.  Controlling 
her  desire  to  shriek,  she  went  on,  to  take  a 
nearer  look  at  the  crouching  body,  and  by 
the  moon's  bright  light,  shining  through 
a  gap  in  the  trees,  she  saw  that  it  was  a 
great  dead  fox,  with  gray  lips  drawn  back 
from  his  toothless  jaws  in  a  ghastly  grin. 

"Poor  Minokichi,"  she  said,  "here  is 
your  prince.  The  grandfather  of  all  the 
foxes  he  must  have  been.  Even  your  skill 
could  not  save  him." 

KITSUNfi  YASHIKI 


130  Minokichi  walked  on  in  silence,  nor  did 
his  wife  lag  far  behind,  for  across  the  de 
serted  rice-fields  came  to  her  ears  a  dismal 
yapping  and  wailing,  the  mourning  of  the 
foxes  for  "  the  master. " 

To  this  day  O  Koto  San  does  not  know 
whether  her  husband  believes  in  his  own 
bewitchment.  The  four  oban  remained  as 
they  were,  and  Minokichi,  who  is  a  rich 
man  now,  thanks  to  the  gold  and  to  O 
Koto's  clever  management,  dates  all  his 
good  luck  from  that  night  when  he  was 
led  out  across  the  rice-fields  to  minister  to 
the  dying  man.  And  when  O  Koto  shakes 
her  head  and  talks  of  "  Kitsune  Yashiki," 
he  laughs,  and  warns  her  that  fox-gold  may 
turn  to  leaves  over  night. 


IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


VI 


CHOKICHI'S    PILGRIMAGE 


VI 

THE  whole  year  had  gone  wrong  for  Cho- 
kichi.  When,  at  the  close  of  the  old  year, 
his  bills  had  come  in  and  he  had  paid  them 
off,  —  as  every  Japanese  must  if  he  would 
go  on  into  the  future  at  all,  —  he  had  not 
only  been  left  without  money,  but  had  been 
forced  to  offer  his  stock  in  trade  at  absurdly 
low  prices  ;  and  —  for  purchasers  are  few 
and  sellers  many  at  that  season,  and  in  a 
small  village  only  as  many  tabi1  can  be 
absorbed  at  once  as  the  population  has 
feet  to  cover  —  he  had,  after  all,  been 
driven  to  carry  a  large  part  of  his  ward 
robe  to  the  furugi-ya 2  and  sell  it  for  what 
it  would  bring,  in  order  to  satisfy  his 
creditors. 
And  then,  after  beginning  the  new  year 

1  The  mitten-shaped  sock  worn  by  Japanese. 

2  The  old-clothes  dealer. 

CHOKICHI'S  PILGRIMAGE 


134  witn  narrowed  resources,  he  had  been  fur 
ther  afflicted  by  the  illness  of  his  wife. 
Money  spent  on  doctors  and  medicines  was 
of  no  avail,  and  she  had  gone  steadily  from 
bad  to  worse,  until  at  last  she  had  died  and 
left  him  with  no  one  to  attend  to  the  house 
or  the  shop,  just  as  things  were  looking  up 
a  little  and  custom  coming  in. 

Then  he  had  taken  an  apprentice, — To- 
shi,  the  son  of  a  neighbor  who  had  more 
boys  than  he  needed  to  carry  on  the  hered 
itary  business  of  tub-making,  and  who  was 
glad  to  put  into  Chokichi's  care  the  most 
mischievous  and  good-for-nothing  of  his 
lithe,  laughing,  bullet-headed  progeny. 
Toshi,  with  his  smooth  brown  face,  his 
black  slits  of  eyes,  his  short  blue  kimono 
folded  neatly  about  his  muscular  young 
legs,  would  sit  meekly  on  his  heels  by  his 
master's  side,  sewing  at  the  tabi  that  had 
been  cut  and  put  into  his  hands,  a  very 
model  of  all  the  virtues.  But  if  Chokichi 
left  the  house  for  an  hour  or  two  in  Toshi' s 
care,  trusting  for  the  moment  to  the  guile- 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


less  expression  and  exemplary  behavior  of  135 
his  apprentice,  he  was  more  than  likely  on 
his  return  to  meet  the  miscreant  in  the 
street  at  the  head  of  a  procession  of  boys 
marching  with  flags  and  singing  war-songs 
with  brazen  voices,  while  in  the  shop  all 
would  be  disorder,  the  unfinished  socks 
scattered  about  the  floor,  the  cat  curled 
up  in  the  tumbled  bolt  of  white  cotton 
from  which  the  tabi  were  to  be  cut,  or  a 
live  coal  from  the  hibachi  burning  a  hole 
in  the  newly  covered  mats. 

What  was  a  poor  tafo-maker  to  do  ? 
Chokichi  spent  much  time  in  meditation 
upon  this  problem,  and  at  last,  when  Au 
gust  came  and  pilgrim  parties  were  start 
ing  from  all  the  villages  to  make  the  tour 
of  the  sacred  places,  a  thought  came  to 
him  that  soon  urged  him  into  action. 

If  everything  went  wrong,  it  must  surely 
be  that  he  had  somehow  failed  in  his  duty 
toward  the  gods.  He  could  not  make  a 
grand  tour  with  the  clubs  that  went  out, 
after  a  year  of  saving  and  preparation,  to 

CHOKICHI'S   PILGRIMAGE 


136  be  gone  a  month  or  more,  and  reap  much 
spiritual  benefit  by  propitiating  as  many  of 
the  gods  as  possible,  —  he  fairly  shuddered 
to  think  of  what  might  happen  to  the  shop 
and  T5shi  in  such  an  absence,  —  but  why 
not  take  a  day,  close  the  shop,  send  T5shi 
home  to  his  mischievous  brothers,  and 
make  a  pilgrimage  to  the  shrine  on  the 
top  of  Miyamoto  Yama?  He  had  heard 
his  father  tell  of  how  once  his  grandfather 
had  made  pilgrimage  thither,  and  of  what 
wonderful  good  luck  had  come  in  answer 
to  his  prayers. 

It  took  Chokichi  some  time  to  reason 
this  all  out  while  he  sat  over  his  work,  cut 
ting,  basting,  directing  Toshi,  sewing  on 
the  cheap  German  hand-machine  that  he 
had  bought  one  lucky  year  when  he  had 
found  a  pleasant  little  surplus  in  his  till 
after  all  his  debts  were  paid.  But  when 
he  had  thought  it  out,  there  was  no  delay 
about  decision. 

"  Toshi,"  he  said  suddenly,  "  would  you 
like  a  holiday  ?" 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


Toshi's  black  eyes  gleamed,  his   ivory    137 
teeth  shone,  but  he  kept  on  demurely  with 
his  work. 

"Yes,  master,"  he  answered,  "if  your 
honor  would  condescend  to  give  one  to 
my  un worthiness. " 

"  I  shall  close  the  shop  to-morrow,  for  I 
must  go  away  on  business  of  importance. 
You  may  return  to  your  father's  to-night, 
and  come  back  to  me  early  in  the  morn 
ing  of  the  day  after  to-morrow,  in  time  to 
open  the  shop."  Chokichi  was  very  con 
descending  and  important  in  his  manner. 
He  wished  Toshi  to  understand  that  the 
holiday  was  no  reward  of  virtue. 

Very  early  the  next  morning,  Chokichi, 
a  box  of  luncheon  tied  up  in  a  furoshiki? 
dangling  from  one  hand,  a  stout  staff  in  the 
other,  his  kimono  turned  up  above  his  knees 
and  tucked  into  his  belt,  his  bare  feet  shod 
with  sandals  tied  tightly  about  his  ankles 
by  strings  of  twisted  straw,  walked  quickly 
out  of  the  village,  taking  the  straight  high- 

1  A  square  of  cloth  used  for  wrapping  bundles. 

CHOKICHI'S  PILGRIMAGE 


138  road  that  pointed  toward  the  mountains. 
The  mists  lay  in  low,  level  bands  against 
the  sides  of  the  great  range,  the  sun  was 
hardly  above  the  horizon,  but  the  peasants 
were  already  at  work  in  the  rice-fields, 
their  broad  hats  showing  like  rows  of  giant 
mushrooms  on  the  square  green  patches 
of  growing  rice. 

Chokichi  swung  along  jauntily,  making 
good  time  in  the  morning  coolness ;  for 
the  red-faced  sun  behind  him  promised  a 
hot  day  on  the  plain,  and  he  was  anxious 
to  reach  the  shelter  of  the  wooded  gorges 
before  the  heat  was  full  upon  him.  And 
thanks  to  his  vigorous  pace,  it  was  not 
more  than  nine  o'clock  when  he  found 
himself  traveling  along  the  rugged  moun 
tain  path,  a  precipice  above  him,  a  green 
ravine  beneath,  through  which  roared  and 
tumbled  a  small  river,  swollen  and  white 
from  the  August  rains.  How  delightfully 
cool  and  damp  it  was !  He  stopped  beside 
a  stream  that  leaped  from  the  precipice 
in  a  sheet  of  foam  into  a  basin  cut  for  it 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


beside  the  road,  then  gurgled  and  hissed    139 
under  a  culvert  on  its  way  to  the  river, 
below.     He   bathed  his  hands  and  arms 
and  feet  and  legs  in  the  clear,  cool  water 

"  It  was  a  great  thing  to  do,"  he  said 
to  himself.  "  Such  a  day  for  the  walk !  I 
almost  wish  I  had  brought  Toshi,  though, 
for  it  is  pretty  lonely ! " 

He  stopped  and  listened.  All  the  cheer 
ful  valley  sounds  were  gone,  —  the  children 
shouting  at  their  play,  the  women  singing 
at  their  looms,  the  squawking  and  chatter 
of  fowls,  the  peasants  calling  from  field 
to  field,  the  bump-bump  of  the  great  mill- 
wheel,  the  clatter  of  clogs  and  patter  oi 
bare  feet.  There  was  no  sound  except  the 
gushing  and  rushing  of  water,  the  swish  of 
green  leaves  over  which  the  breeze  was 
passing,  the  murmur  of  the  pines  as  the 
wind  came  their  way.  As  Chokichi  listened 
he  shivered  a  little,  for  he  was  used  to  the 
social  village  life,  and  he  seemed  so  far  from 
human  companionship.  But  he  cheered 
himself  with  the  thought  of  his  grand- 

CHOKICHI'S  PILGRIMAGE 


140  father's  luck.  There  would  be  little  merit 
to  be  gained  if  his  day  of  pilgrimage  were 
all  pleasure.  And  the  fact  that  he  was  alone 
would  make  his  luck  all  the  greater, — there 
would  be  no  one  to  share  it. 

And  so  he  trudged  along,  —  one  moment 
wishing  for  company,  the  next  glad  he  had 
none,  —  until  he  had  reached  a  goodly 
height.  He  stopped  to  breathe  and  wipe 
his  face  and  arms  with  his  blue-figured 
towel,  and  stood  a  moment  to  look  at  the 
square  green  rice-fields  far  below  him,  and 
the  village  from  which  he  had  come,  with 
its  huddled  thatched  roofs  like  haystacks 
on  both  sides  of  the  narrow  road.  He  was 
engaged  in  trying  to  pick  out  his  own 
among  the  gray  cottages,  and  heard  no 
sound  of  approaching  feet,  so  that  a  fresh 
young  voice  with  a  ripple  of  laughter  in 
it  startled  him,  though  it  uttered  only  a 
polite  "  Good  day ! " 

He  turned  quickly  and  looked  into  a 
bright,  roguish  pair  of  eyes  a  little  below 
the  level  of  his  own,  —  eyes  that  flashed 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


from  under  a  blue-and- white  towel  coquet-    141 
tishly  tied  about  puffs  of  shining  black  hair. 

"  Good  day ! "  he  answered,  looking  with 
undisguised  pleasure  upon  the  picturesque 
maiden  before  him. 

She  seemed  about  sixteen  years  old,  and 
was  dressed  in  the  simple  country  costume, 
—  a  dark  blue  kimono  and  a  red-figured 
obi.  Her  skirt  was  turned  up,  and  showed 
a  bright  red  petticoat  reaching  a  little  below 
the  knee.  Her  legs  were  bare,  shapely,  and 
white ;  she  wore  rough  straw  sandals  on 
her  feet,  tied  about  her  slender  ankles.  Her 
face  was  merry,  —  red-cheeked,  with  laugh 
ing  lips  which  showed  no  trace  of  care  or 
trouble  or  evil  temper. 

Chokichi  ventured  to  remark  that  it  was 
a  warm  day,  —  very  warm  for  a  young  lady 
to  choose  for  mountain-climbing. 

"  Truly,  it  is  very  warm,"  answered  the 
girl,  "  and  I  have  lost  my  way.  Can  you 
tell  me  which  path  leads  to  the  Miyamoto 
shrine?" 

"Assuredly,  honorable  young  lady.    I 

CHOKICHI'S  PILGRIMAGE 


142  am  going  there  myself,  and  shall  be  only 
too  glad  if  you  will  condescend  to  let  me 
accompany  you." 

The  girl  bowed  low  in  thanks,  and  then 
the  two  walked  on  together,  Chokichi 
ahead,  the  maiden  modestly  following. 
They  scrambled  a  little  way  in  silence 
up  the  steep  path  ;  then  Chokichi,  who 
thanked  his  lucky  stars  that  he  had  not 
brought  the  mischievous  Toshi,  stopped 
and  seated  himself  upon  a  rock. 

"  Let  us  rest  here  a  little,"  he  said.  "  The 
shrine  is  not  far  distant,  but  the  road  is 
steep,  and  we  must  get  our  breath  before 
we  begin  the  last  pull." 

The  girl  sat  down  across  the  path  from 
him,  and  her  eyes  danced  as  she  looked  at 
him,  then  she  dropped  them  to  the  ground 
and  sighed.  Chokichi  could  not  but  think 
what  an  adornment  so  fair  a  maiden  would 
be  to  his  lonely  house.  He  began  tenta 
tively,  — 

"  And  the  young  lady's  home  —  is  it  far 
from  here?" 

IN   THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


The  girl  looked  up  as  she  answered,  143 
"  My  humble  home  ?  Indeed,  it  is  far  away 
—  beyond  Futago  Yama,"  and  she  pointed 
to  a  great  double  peak  that  rose  out  of  the 
north.  "  I  have  been  walking  since  before 
light,  and  have  seen  no  one  since  I  started 
until  I  met  you." 

"But  why,  —  if  you  will  permit  me  to 
ask  so  impolite  a  question,  —  why  do  you 
walk  so  far  all  alone  to  this  lonely  moun 
tain  shrine?" 

The  girl  lifted  her  hand  to  her  face  so 
that  her  long  sleeve  hid  her  mouth,  and 
her  bright  eyes  softened  a  little. 

"  My  mother  is  very  ill,"  she  said  gently, 
"and  we  are  poor  and  have  no  money  to 
buy  medicine,  so  I  am  going  to  the  shrine 
to  ask  the  gods  to  give  her  health."  She 
hid  her  whole  face  behind  her  sleeve,  and 
Chokichi  where  he  sat  could  hear  her  sob 
bing  softly. 

"  Do  not  be  sad,"  he  entreated,  rising 
and  going  to  her.  He  laid  one  hand  on  her 
shoulder,  patting  her  lightly.  "The  gods 

CHOKICHI'S  PILGRIMAGE 


144  wiH  surely  grant  the  prayer  of  so  sweet  a 
pilgrim,  and  I  have  money  enough  to  buy 
medicine  for  your  mother  when  we  come 
down." 

a  Come !  Let  us  go ! "  she  said,  rising 
briskly. 

Chokichi  was  astonished  at  the  sudden 
change.  The  roguish  light  came  back  into 
her  eyes.  She  hurried  on  ahead,  looking 
back  at  him  over  her  shoulder  from  time 
to  time.  Chokichi  was  fairly  infatuated. 

"Wait!  Wait  a  moment!"  he  called, 
for  her  shapely  white  legs  were  speeding 
so  fast  that  he  could  hardly  keep  up  with 
her.  "  Wait  for  me !  I  have  something  to 
tell  you  ! " 

The  girl  stopped,  laughing  gleefully. 
Chokichi,  puffing  from  the  chase,  came  up 
to  her. 

"  Might  it  not  be  "  —  He  stopped,  em 
barrassed.  When  he  had  courted  Kiku,  all 
had  been  done  through  go-betweens.  This 
was  new  work  for  him.  He  began  again, 
"  Might  it  not  be  that  if  you  had  a  hus- 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


band  to  take  care  of  you,  you  would  not    145 
need  to  take  such  long  journeys  all  alone 
to  strange  shrines  ?  " 

Her  roguish  eyes  went  up  at  the  cor 
ners  until  they  were  almost  lost  in  her 
hair. 

"Truly,"  she  answered,  "it  might  be; 
but  now  I  go  to  pray.  When  we  return, 
we  will  talk  of  other  things." 

The  way  wound  dimly  now  through  thick 
woods,  —  great  cedars  with  trunks  like 
temple  pillars.  Ahead  of  them,  across  the 
path,  stood  the  heavy  torii  that  marked  the 
beginning  of  the  holy  ground.  Suddenly 
the  girl  stumbled,  then  gathered  herself 
together  with  a  groan. 

"  What  is  the  matter  ?  What  have  you 
done?  Let  me  help  you  1 "  Chokichi  cried, 
hurrying  to  her. 

"  I  have  hurt  my  ankle  and  twisted  my 
knee,"  she  said  faintly,  leaning  against  a 
tree.  "  My  sandal  string  is  cutting  me,  and 
I  cannot  stoop  to  loosen  it ! " 

"  Let  me  fix  it  for  you,"  said  Chokichi, 

CHOKICHI'S  PILGRIMAGE 


146  squatting  beside  her  and  touching  lightly 
the  injured  ankle. 

As  he  touched  it,  suddenly  it  changed 
under  his  hand.  It  was  no  longer  the 
shapely,  slender  foot  of  a  young  woman, 
but  a  great  hairy,  muscular  paw  like  that 
of  a  bear.  A  yell  of  demon  laughter  was 
in  the  air.  He  looked  up  to  see  that  his 
companion  had  grown  to  the  height  of  a 
giant,  and  was  staring  at  him  with  ter 
rible  eyes  from  a  monkey  face.  Only  the 
dress  remained  to  show  that  this  fearful 
monster  was  the  charming  maiden  of  the 
moment  before. 

Mad  with  fright,  Chokichi  fled  through 
the  torii  into  the  shrine  itself  that  stood 
with  mossy  roof  in  the  dark  grove.  An  old 
man  was  sitting  in  the  priest's  room  ad 
joining  the  temple,  and  over  a  hibachi  by 
his  side  a  tea-kettle  was  boiling  merrily. 
The  homely  sight  and  sound  were  reassur 
ing,  and  Chokichi  felt  a  little  better  for  the 
pleasant  human  companionship. 

"  Welcome !  Welcome  !  "  called  the  old 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


man.    "Come  in  and  take  a  cup  of  tea    147 
and  have  a  whiff  of  tobacco.   The  day  is 
hot,  and  you  must  be  tired  with  your  long 
climb  up  the  hill." 

So  gentle,  so  polite,  so  smiling  was  his 
host,  that  Chokichi  sat  and  talked  with 
him,  forgetting  the  prayers  that  he  had 
come  so  far  to  offer.  At  last  he  told  him 
all  about  his  strange  adventure  on  the  hill 
side.  The  old  man  chuckled  as  he  de 
scribed  the  girl. 

"  Ay,  truly ! "  he  said,  wagging  his 
head  knowingly. 

Then  Chokichi  told  of  the  great  hairy 
foot. 

"  Was  it  like  this  ? "  shouted  the  old  man, 
with  a  yell,  rising  suddenly,  and  Chokichi 
saw  that  same  foot  thrust  out  in  front  of 
him,  while  far  above  his  head,  with  staring, 
terrible  eyes  and  monkey  face,  was  the 
monster  from  which  he  had  fled.  Around 
him  echoed  peals  of  derisive  laughter. 

This  time  it  was  rage  rather  than  fright 
that  moved  Chokichi,  and  he  sprang  at  his 

CHOKICHI'S   PILGRIMAGE 


148  tormentor  like  a  wounded  tiger.  Grip 
ping  the  great  hairy  leg  tightly  with  both 
hands,  he  held  on  until  he  lost  conscious 
ness. 

A  hunter,  passing  the  shrine  late  in  the 
day,  found  him  lying  on  the  ground  just 
within  the  torii.  He  was  bleeding  from  a 
cut  on  the  head.  In  one  hand  he  held  a 
bunch  of  reddish  hair.  It  took  some  time 
to  bring  him  to  his  senses,  and  then  he 
told  his  story. 

"  I  Ve  got  something  to  show  for  it," 
he  said  manfully.  "  I  tore  this  out  of  the 
monster  before  he  threw  me  down." 

The  hunter  looked  at  it  curiously. 

"  That  is  fox-hair ! "  he  exclaimed.  <(  You 
were  bewitched  !  I  know  those  foxes,  they 
come  from  the  Inari  shrine  on  the  other 
side  of  Futago  Yama !  " 

Slowly  Chokichi  toiled  down  the  moun 
tain-side  through  the  darkness  ;  sadly  he 
let  himself  into  his  silent  house. 

When  T5shi  returned  to  his  work  the 
next  morning,  he  found  his  master  with 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


a  bad  cut  on  his  forehead,  but  welcoming    149 
his  apprentice  with  a  joy  that  caused  that 
mischievous  youngster  some  surprise. 

"And  did  the  master's  business  prosper 
yesterday?"  he  inquired  humbly,  but  with 
a  twinkle  in  his  eye  that  showed  he  had 
his  own  suspicions. 

"Toshi,"  answered  Chokichi  enigmati 
cally,  "  if  a  man  would  see  his  business 
prosper,  let  him  mind  it  himself,  nor  clamor 
to  the  gods  for  aid." 


CHOKICHI'S  PILGRIMAGE 


VII 


THE   BUYER  OF  AME 


Amt,  a  sweetmeat  made  from  wheat  gluten,  very 
nourishing  and  wholesome  for  children. 


VII 

OLD  man  Genjiro  was  sitting  over  the  last 
coals  in  his  hibachiy  warming  his  hands  and 
blinking  sleepily.  The  shutters  of  the  little 
sweetmeat  shop  were  closed  for  the  night. 
The  street  outside  was  quiet.  Even  the 
footsteps  of  the  few  belated  wayfarers  who 
were  still  abroad  were  muffled  by  the  soft, 
heavy  snow  that  had  wrapped  the  city  as 
in  a  garment. 

The  old  man  nodded  over  the  dying 
embers,  jerking  himself  awake  from  time 
to  time  to  poke  the  few  coals  together  with 
the  iron  fire-sticks,  or  to  rake  and  pick  over 
the  mound  of  ashes.  His  worn  old  face  was 
seamed  and  crisscrossed  with  wrinkles,  but 
they  were  the  tracks  of  kindly  emotions, 
not  of  the  fiercer  passions.  His  wadded 
blue  cotton  garments  were  wrapped  tightly 
about  his  small,  withered  body,  and  his 

THE  BUYER  OF  AM£ 


154  rough,  red,  bare  feet  were  doubled  up 
under  him  as  he  sat  on  the  matted  floor. 
He  shivered  a  little  as  the  red  coals  grew 
smaller  and  smaller. 

"  What  a  cold  night  it  is ! "  he  said  to 
himself.  "  I  am  glad  I  do  not  have  to  be 
out  pulling  a  jinrikisha ; "  and  he  laughed 
cheerfully,  as  he  looked  about  with  some 
pride  on  his  little  shop,  and  his  stock  in 
trade  spread  out  in  the  front  of  it  in  small 
glass  showcases. 

Genjiro  felt  that  he  was  living  like  a  lord 
in  his  old  age  after  his  years  of  toil,  first  in 
the  rice-fields,  then  in  the  shafts  of  a  jinri 
kisha.  He  had  lived  honestly  always,  and 
had  brought  up  three  sons,  who  were  now 
his  pride  and  joy, — strong  men  all, — two, 
pullers  of  jinrikisha  like  their  father  before 
them,  and  one,  the  baby,  serving  his  time 
in  the  army.  When  he  grew  old  his  sons 
had  set  him  up  in  the  little  shop,  and  he 
managed  to  make  a  comfortable  living  off 
of  the  small  coins  that  the  children  in  the 
neighborhood  paid  him  for  his  wares. 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


Genjiro's  old  wife,  Fusa,  was  pottering  155 
about  the  back  room,  making  the  bed  for 
the  night.  He  could  hear  her  snort  and 
snuffle  about  her  work,  for  she  was  asth 
matic,  and  the  heavy  winter  comfortables 
that  she  was  handling  were  almost  too 
much  for  her  strength. 

"  Put  on  all  the  comfortables  that  we 
have,"  he  called  to  her ;  "  I  am  coming  to 
bed  in  a  minute.  No  one  will  come  to  buy 
amk  on  such  a  night  as  this." 

Fusa  grunted  in  response  and  went  on 
with  her  work.  Genjiro  sat  still  over  his  fire, 
too  sleepy  and  warm  to  leave  it  for  the  cold 
little  back  room,  even  with  the  prospect  of 
all  the  comfortables  in  the  house  to  lure 
him  to  his  bed.  He  heard  the  great  bell 
of  the  temple  close  by  boom  out  the  hour, 
but  he  was  too  sleepy  to  count  the  slow 
strokes. 

It  was  Fusa's  voice  from  the  next  room 
that  roused  him  with  the  words,  "  Some 
one  is  at  the  door ! " 

He  jumped  up  with  a  start  and  heard  a 

THE  BUYER  OF  AM£ 


156  very  thin,  weak  voice  calling,  "  Excuse  me," 
just  outside  the  shop.  He  pushed  open 
the  shutter  in  surprise  that  any  one  should 
come  at  that  hour  for  ame.  A  woman  stood 
in  the  street.  He  could  not  see  her  clearly 
in  the  darkness  and  amid  the  falling  snow, 
which  covered  her  dress  and  lay  upon  her 
disheveled  hair  and  seemed  to  whiten  even 
her  face.  She  glided  rather  than  stepped 
into  the  shop. 

Genjiro  hardly  knew  what  to  say,  but  he 
bowed  politely,  on  all  fours,  lifting  his  head 
at  intervals  from  between  his  hands  to  re 
mark  that  it  was  a  cold  night,  that  it  was 
the  first  time  that  he  had  had  the  pleasure 
of  seeing  his  visitor,  and  that  he  hoped  he 
might  be  able  to  serve  her. 

The  woman's  face  was  very  sweet  and 
sad,  as  she  bowed  in  response  to  Genjiro's 
greetings.  "  I  would  like  to  buy  a  little  of 
your  ame"  she  said,  and  she  pointed  to  a 
long,  bright-colored  paper  bag  of  the  con 
fection,  such  as  is  sold  to  mothers  when 
they  bring  their  babies  to  the  temple  for 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


the  miya  mairi.1  Genjiro  handed  it  to  her,  157 
and  received  in  return  a  curiously  black 
ened  and  mouldy  coin.  Then  the  customer 
glided  out  into  the  street,  and  the  old  man 
closed  his  shutter  and  retired  to  the  back 
room. 

"  What  was  it  ?  "  said  Fusa,  for  Genjiro 
was  shaking  all  over. 

"  Only  a  woman  who  wanted  to  buy 
ami?  he  said ;  but  he  shuddered  as  he 
crept  into  bed,  and  it  was  a  long  time 
before  he  was  warm  enough  to  sleep. 

The  next  day  the  old  man  was  pale  and 
distraught.  When  the  baby  of  the  clog- 
seller  across  the  street  came  toddling  over, 
holding  out  a  rin2  piece  with  a  square 
hole  in  the  middle,  he  was  so  absorbed  in 
thinking  of  his  strange  customer  that  he 
did  not  see  her  at  all,  and  her  dirty  round 
mouth  began  to  pucker,  and  her  fat  little 

1  The  presentation  of  a  baby  at  the  parish  temple, 
a  ceremony  that  takes  place  when  the  child  is  about 
a  month  old. 

2  A  coin  something  like  the  Chinese  "  cash,"  worth 
about  half  a  mill. 

THE  BUYER  OF  AMfi 


158  bosom  to  heave  up  and  down  under  its 
red  wadded  gown,  before  he  turned  his 
abstracted  gaze  upon  her.  To  be  sure,  he 
comforted  her  with  a  beautiful  long  piece 
of  ami  jelly  and  a  little  paper  flag  with  a 
round  red  sun  in  the  middle ;  but  her  faith 
in  him  was  only  partially  restored,  and  she 
trotted  home  so  depressed  that  she  nearly 
ran  under  the  wheels  of  a  passing  jinriki- 
sha,  and  wailed  loudly  when  the  runner 
threw  her  aside  as  if  she  had  been  a  pillow. 
And  when  the  boys  came  home  from  school 
at  noon,  they  were  surprised  to  see  that 
their  friend  Genjiro,  instead  of  sitting  in 
the  front  of  the  shop,  bowing  and  smiling 
over  his  tempting  wares,  was  hugging  his 
hibachi,  smoking  gloomily,  and  staring 
into  the  street  with  vacant  eyes.  It  took 
two  shouts  and  much  jingling  of  small  coin 
to  wake  him  from  his  reverie. 

That  night,  Genjiro  and  his  old  wife  went 
to  bed  early,  and  the  shop  was  closely  shut 
tered  and  quite  dark  when  the  temple  bell 
sounded  ten.  Genjiro  was  not  asleep,  how- 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


ever,  and  he  lay  listening  to  the  sounds  in    159 
the  street,  with  Fusa  wheezing  and  snoring 
beside  him.   And  then,  again  he  heard  the 
weak,  pleading  voice. 

"  Excuse  me  for  troubling  you,"  it  said. 

Genjiro  lay  and  shivered,  but  his  kind 
heart  at  last  got  the  better  of  his  fears,  and 
he  rose  and  went  into  the  shop.  Softly  he 
slid  open  the  shutter,  and  his  last  night's 
visitor  stood  before  him. 

"  I  am  making  you  great  trouble,"  she 
said,  "  but  I  would  like  some  more  of  your 
nice  am£"  and  she  bowed,  and  pointed 
as  before  to  a  bright-colored  paper  bag. 

Genjiro  gave  it  to  her,  she  slipped  into 
his  hand  again  a  rusty  coin,  and  glided 
away.  Trembling,  the  old  man  closed 
the  shutter,  crept  back  to  bed,  and  lay 
cowering  with  cold  and  fear. 

Every  night  for  five  nights  the  same 
thing  happened,  and  Genjiro,  what  with 
fear  and  bewilderment,  was  a  changed 
man.  His  business  suffered,  for  the  boys 
now  patronized  the  itinerant  sweetmeat 

THE  BUYER  OF  AMfi 


160  vender  who  came  into  the  street  every 
noon  and  stood  close  to  Genjiro's  shop 
with  his  little  cart  of  sweets,  blowing  a 
bubbly  brass  horn  and  dancing  at  inter 
vals  for  the  crowd  of  children  that  flocked 
about  him.  Genjiro  was  too  forlorn  to 
make  an  effort  to  hold  his  trade.  He  only 
sat  in  the  back  of  the  shop  and  watched 
the  small  coins  that  ought  to  be  his  drop 
into  his  supplanter's  money-box. 

At  last  Genjiro  forced  himself  up  to  a 
high  resolve.  He  would  follow  the  stranger 
and  see  what  became  of  her.  He  never 
went  to  bed  now  until  his  weird  customer 
had  made  her  nightly  purchase,  but  sat 
and  shivered  over  his  hibachi  until  she 
came.  Fusa  was  sure  that  the  visitor  was 
a  fox-woman,  and  that  her  husband  was 
bewitched ;  and  when  he  told  her  that 
night  that  he  was  going  to  follow  the 
stranger,  the  poor  old  woman  groveled  on 
the  floor,  entreating  him  not  to  be  so  rash. 
"  She  will  only  lead  you  into  some  great 
danger.  You  will  never  come  back  if  you 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


follow   that  fox-woman,"  she  cried ;  but    161 
though  Genjiro  shuddered,  he  remained 
firm,  and  all  day  Fusa  mourned  him  as 
one  already  dead. 

When  the  woman  came  that  night,  she 
looked  paler  and  sadder  than  ever,  and  she 
bowed  very  low  and  wept  as  she  handed 
Genjiro  the  rusty  rin  in  payment  for  her 
purchase.  When  the  old  man  saw  her  dis 
tress,  he  was  firmer  than  ever  in  his  resolve 
to  follow  her  and  discover  her  home  and 
her  grief.  He  had  put  on  a  clean  pair  of 
jinrikisha-man's  shoes,  so  that  there  should 
be  no  sound  from  his  footsteps.  As  he 
stepped  down  from  the  shop  platform  to 
draw  the  shutter,  he  closed  himself  out 
into  the  street,  and  glided  along  in  his  soft 
foot-gear  almost  as  silently  as  the  retreat 
ing  figure  that  he  followed.  He  had  to 
run  at  a  dog-trot  to  keep  up  with  her,  so 
quickly  did  she  move.  They  passed  the 
temple,  the  great  curves  of  its  roof  throw 
ing  dark  shadows  in  the  moonlight,  then 
on  into  the  graveyard  beyond. 

THE  BUYER  OF  AMfi 


162  There  was  a  faint  smell  of  incense  in  the 
air,  and  a  few  coals  burned  dimly  on  a 
tombstone.  Genjiro  hesitated,  —  a  grave 
yard  is  not  a  pleasant  place  to  enter  so  late 
at  night,  —  but  his  strange  guide  seemed 
to  feel  his  hesitation,  and  turning,  looked 
at  him  sadly  and  beckoned  to  him.  Gen 
jiro  followed  manfully.  "  Poor  thing  !  She 
wants  something  of  me ! "  he  said  to  him 
self.  They  came  to  a  great  tree  girdled 
with  a  straw  rope,  under  which  was  a 
grave,  and  there  the  woman  disappeared. 

So  he  had  been  selling  amt  every  night 
to  a  ghost !  Surely  Genjiro's  fears  were 
justified !  He  was  weak  and  trembling 
when  he  reached  home,  and  it  was  only 
after  several  cups  of  sake,  which  Fusa 
brought  him  when  she  saw  his  condition, 
that  he  could  speak  connectedly  enough 
to  tell  his  story. 

Far  into  the  night  they  talked  the  mat 
ter  over,  but  they  could  not  tell  what  to 
do  next.  At  last  Fusa  said,  "  You  must  go 
to  the  priest  to-morrow,  and  he  will  know 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


who  is  buried  in  that  grave.  Then,  perhaps,    163 
we  can  find  out  what  the  ghost  wants." 

Very  early  the  next  morning  Genjiro  and 
Fusa  went  to  the  temple,  taking  with  them 
the  six  rusty  coins  that  their  ghostly  visitor 
had  paid.  They  found  the  place  alive  with 
worshipers,  for  it  was  a  feast  day.  The 
priests  were  almost  too  busy  to  attend  to 
the  humble  pair,  but  at  last  a  gentle  old 
ecclesiastic  took  pity  on  their  evident  dis 
tress,  called  them  to  the  priests'  house  close 
by  the  shrine,  and  asked  them  kindly  what 
their  trouble  was.  They  told  the  story, 
passing  it  from  one  to  the  other  in  their 
excitement  over  its  details,  and  handed 
over  to  the  priest  the  coins,  neatly  folded 
in  a  piece  of  white  paper. 

The  holy  man  looked  grave.  "  Where 
is  the  tomb  ?  "  he  said.  "  Can  you  show  it 
to  me  now?" 

"  Surely,  your  reverence,"  answered  Gen 
jiro  eagerly ;  "it  is  just  under  the  sacred 
cedar  tree,  —  the  great  tree  with  a  rope 
around  it." 

THE  BUYER  OF  AM£ 


164  "Show  it  to  me,"  said  the  priest,  and 
together  they  went  to  the  graveyard.  The 
grave  was  a  new  one ;  only  a  wooden  post 
bearing  the  posthumous  name  of  the  de 
ceased  marked  the  spot. 

"  This  is  the  grave  of  Kiku,"  said  the 
good  man,  and  tears  of  pity  stood  in  his 
eyes.  "  She  was  the  wife  of  Chokichi  Sato, 
and  she  died  less  than  ten  days  ago.  I 
myself  performed  the  ceremony  when  we 
laid  her  and  her  unborn  child  here  under 
the  sacred  cedar.  Without  doubt  the  gods 
have  sent  her  to  you  with  a  message. " 

Then  Genjiro  and  Fusa  stood,  awestruck, 
before  the  grave,  while  the  priest  returned 
to  the  temple  to  tell  what  had  come  to 
pass.  And  when  the  priests  and  the  people 
heard  the  story  of  the  woman  ghost  that 
had  come  nightly  to  Genjiro' s  shop  to  buy 
am^y  they  came  in  a  great  crowd  and  stood 
about  the  grave. 

And  one  who  heard  the  story  went  to 
Chokichi,  the  husband  of  Kiku,  and  told 
him,  and  he  hastened  to  the  place  just  as 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


he  was,  in  his  white-lettered  carpenter's  165 
blouse  and  blue  tights.  And  when  he  saw 
the  priests  and  the  people  standing,  he 
said,  "  Will  you  permit  that  we  open  the 
grave,  and  learn  whether  there  is  any  rea 
son  why  my  wife  has  visited  the  ameya 1 
every  night  for  a  week  ?  " 

And  the  priests  answered,  "We  will  per 
mit  it,  and  we  will,  ourselves,  watch  the 
opening  and  say  prayers  for  the  repose 
of  O  Kiku  San's  spirit." 

Then  picks  and  hoes  were  brought,  and 
the  earth,  wet  and  heavy  with  melted  snow, 
was  moved  from  the  grave,  until  at  last 
they  came  to  the  great  cask  in  which  the 
dead  had  been  placed  for  burial. 

And  Chokichi  said,  "If  it  please  your 
reverences,  I  will  open  the  coffin,  that  I 
alone  may  be  polluted  by  the  touch  of  the 
dead."  And  he  opened  the  coffin,  the 
priests  chanting  a  mass  for  the  repose  of 
the  young  wife's  soul. 

And  when  the   cover  was  removed,  a 
1  One  who  sells  am£. 

THE  BUYER  OF  AMfi 


1 66  little  gurgle  came  from  within  the  coffin, 
and  all  the  people  saw  the  dead  mother 
sitting  within,  and  at  her  feet  a  tiny  living 
baby,  smiling  and  gurgling,  and  sucking 
a  piece  of  amk.  And  Chokichi  lifted  out 
the  baby,  all  naked  as  it  was,  and  folded 
it  from  the  winter  air  in  his  bosom.  "  My 
little  son  1 "  he  said,  and  he  wept. 

Then  said  the  old  priest  to  all  the  people 
as  they  stood  amazed,  "  Now  ye  can  see 
how  great  is  mother  love,  that  will,  even 
from  the  grave,  watch  over  and  feed  its 
offspring.  Behold  how  for  her  baby's  sake 
this  poor  mother  hath  given  to  the  am&ya 
the  six  rin 1  which  she  needed  to  keep  her 
from  entering  naked  into  the  spirit  world," 
and  he  placed  reverently  in  the  coffin  the 
paper  containing  the  six  rusty  coins  that 
Genjiro  had  given  to  him. 

Then  he  turned  to  Genjiro,  and   said, 

1  On  the  banks  of  the  River  of  Death  an  old  hag 
waits  to  strip  the  souls  of  their  clothing  as  they  pass 
by.  Therefore  with  the  dead  must  always  be  buried 
six  rin,  with  which  to  propitiate  the  old  woman. 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


"  The  kindness  of  this  man,  opening  his  167 
door  night  after  night  to  the  mother's 
ghost,  has  given  back  to  Chokichi  his 
son."  And  Genjiro  and  Chokichi  returned 
to  their  homes,  each  followed  by  a  wonder 
ing  crowd. 

From  that  time  on  everything  that  Gen 
jiro  did  prospered.  From  all  the  city  people 
came  to  buy  amk  of  him,  and  to  hear  his 
story.  Mothers  sent  their  children  to  spend 
their  stray  coins  at  his  shop,  for  they  said, 
"  He  is  a  kind  man,  and  will  always  give 
you  good  am£."  And  the  rival  amkya  with 
his  bubbly  trumpet  came  no  more  into  the 
neighborhood,  but  danced  and  played  in 
the  next  ward,  where  there  was  no  Genjiro 
to  hold  the  trade  of  all  the  street. 


THE  BUYER  OF  AM£ 


VIII 


THE   PEONY   LANTERN 


VIII 

OLD  Hanzo  stood  at  the  front  door  bow 
ing  double  and  sucking  in  his  breath  as 
his  master  stepped  into  the  jinrikisha  and 
stood  for  a  moment  to  be  firmly  wrapped 
about  by  the  dust-robe  that  the  kurumaya 
held  in  his  hands. 

"  Good-by,  Hanzo,"  called  the  young 
man  gayly  as  he  whirled  away.  "  Do  not 
expect  me  back  until  late  to-night,  and 
mind  that  you  have  something  good  to 
eat  ready  for  me  when  I  return." 

The  old  servant  bowed,  and  clattered  off 
on  his  clogs  to  discuss  with  his  wife  the 
carrying  out  of  the  master's  order. 

Teichi  Ogiwara  was  a  gay  young  fellow, 
who,  with  more  wealth  than  was  quite 
good  for  him,  was  living  carelessly  and 
idly  in  his  pleasant  little  house  in  the 
Negishi  suburb  of  Tokyo.  Of  samurai 

THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


1 72  descent,  brought  up  in  the  stern  traditions 
of  his  ancestors,  he  had  come  to  Tokyo 
a  few  years  before  from  the  castle  town  of 
Wakamatsu,  an  earnest  youth,  on  fire  with 
zeal  to  so  educate  himself  as  to  be  of  use 
to  his  beloved  country.  While  his  parents 
lived,  their  delight  in  his  progress  through 
the  University,  their  joy  in  the  letters  in 
which  he  breathed  forth  his  high  resolves, 
had  kept  him  steadily  at  his  work  and 
away  from  the  temptations  that  are  set 
for  the  feet  of  unwary  students  in  the 
capital. 

But  things  had  changed  greatly  for  him 
within  a  year.  His  parents  had  died,  leav 
ing  to  him  a  substantial  little  income ;  and 
after  the  first  grief  was  over,  the  young 
fellow,  looking  about  him  for  companion 
ship,  had  made  friends  with  one  of  his 
classmates  in  the  medical  school,  —  a  bril 
liant  scholar  and  amusing  talker,  popular 
with  classmates  and  instructors  alike,  and 
always  ready  to  engage  in  any  enterprise 
that  promised  either  pleasure  or  profit  to 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


himself.  Teichi,  by  nature  silent  and  re-  173 
served,  was  attracted  by  the  gayety  and 
energy  of  Komura,  and  Komura,  himself 
of  low  birth  and  small  financial  resources, 
was  only  too  delighted  to  be  taken  up 
by  a  young  fellow  of  independent  means, 
and  of  a  social  position  far  higher  than  his 
own.  And  so  the  friendship  grew  apace, 
Komura  gaining  daily  greater  influence 
over  Teichi,  until,  at  the  expiration  of  a 
few  months,  he  had  subtly  sapped  the  high 
ideals  and  brought  the  younger  and  more 
innocent  man  as  nearly  as  possible  to  his 
own  level. 

"  You  have  brains  enough  and  money 
enough.  Why  do  you  dig  so  at  your 
studies  ?  If  I  had  your  chances,  would  n't 
I  have  a  good  time?  Leave  the  hard 
work  and  plain  living  to  us  of  the  heimin. 
We  have  to  do  it  because  we  have  neither 
money  nor  place.  I  'd  show  you  how  to 
use  your  money  so  as  to  get  some  good 
out  of  it,  if  you  'd  let  me  ! " 

This  was  the  general  trend  of  Komura's 

THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


174  influence,  and  to  Teichi  the  temptations  of 
a  luxury  and  dissipation  that  he  had  al 
ways  been  taught  to  shun  grew  irresisti 
ble.  It  seemed  as  if  the  asceticism  of  his 
early  life,  the  plain  living  and  high  think 
ing  that  are  a  part  of  the  samurai  creed, 
had  been  the  mere  restraining  shell  of 
his  pupa  state,  from  which  he  emerged  sud 
denly  as  a  full-grown  butterfly,  seeking 
pleasure  wherever  it  was  to  be  found. 

It  was  at  Komura's  suggestion  that  he 
had  taken  the  dainty  house  at  Negishi, 
hidden  behind  a  bamboo  fence  from  the 
quiet  lane  that  was  its  only  approach,  and 
with  a  lovely  garden  shaded  by  pine  and 
cherry,  cool  with  running  water,  pictur 
esque  with  mossy  lanterns,  rustic  bridges, 
azalea-covered  mountain  ranges,  and  peb 
bly  walks.  Here,  by  Komura's  recom 
mendation,  old  Hanzo  had  been  installed 
as  major  domo  in  a  lodge  at  the  gate, 
where  he  lived  with  his  old  wife  Koma, 
keeping  guard  in  the  master's  absence  and 
caring  for  his  comfort  when  he  was  at 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


home.  Hanzo  and  Koma  were  both  dis-  175 
creet,  and  said  nothing  to  any  one  of  the 
high  revels  that  went  on  within  the  house, 
—  of  kurumas  that  came  bringing  not 
only  gay  young  blades  like  Ogiwara  him 
self,  but  daintier  freight  in  the  shape  of 
bright-eyed,  black-haired,  brilliantly  robed 
geishas,  who  plied  the  sake  bottle,  and 
danced,  and  bandied  wit,  and  entertained 
the  uproarious  young  fellows  far  into  the 
night.  Then  there  would  be  times  when 
Hanzo  had  a  long  rest,  and  his  master 
never  came  home  at  all,  but  spent  his  days 
and  nights  wandering  about  the  city  to 
various  questionable  resorts,  or  seeking 
new  stimulus  for  his  jaded  senses  by  trips 
into  the  country  to  places  famous  for  the 
pleasures  offered  to  travelers.  If  Teichi 
ever  thought  in  those  reckless  days  of  his 
stern  old  samurai  father,  of  the  joy  of  his 
mother  in  his  high  ideals,  it  was  to  push 
the  thought  out  of  his  mind  as  quickly  as 
possible,  and  obstinately  shut  the  door 
against  its  reentrance. 

THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


1 76  To-day  he  trundled  merrily  along  in  his 
jinrikisha  to  meet  Komura  at  Kameido, 
where,  after  viewing  the  plum-blossoms 
and  spending  a  sentimental  afternoon  in 
writing  poems  to  hang  upon  the  branches 
of  the  gray  old  trees,  they  hoped  to  pick 
up  a  jovial  party  for  an  evening  together 
at  an  eel-house  near  Megane  Bashi. 
Through  the  damp  greenness  of  Uyeno 
Park  he  sped,  along  the  front  of  the  great 
temple  and  pleasure-ground  of  Asakusa, 
across  the  Sumida  River,  and  into  the 
Kameido  grounds,  where,  by  the  quaint 
semicircular  bridge  that  arches  over  the 
"  Pond  of  the  Heart,"  he  found  Komura 
awaiting  him,  a  big  bundle  in  his  hand 
wrapped  in  a  purple  furoshiki. 

"  Hulloa !  old  fellow,  I  thought  you 
were  never  coming.  I  have  n't  seen  a  soul 
that  we  know  yet,  but  I  Ve  brought  some 
good  company  along,  anyway/'  and  he 
shook  the  suspiciously  shaped  bundle, 
from  which  came  a  gurgle  that  explained 
his  meaning.  "We  shan't  lack  inspira- 

IN   THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


tion  for  our  poems  even  if  the  plums  are    177 
not  in  bloom." 

It  was  early  in  the  season,  and  the  great 
gray  trees  of  the  plum-garden  showed  only 
here  and  there  a  pink  bud  pushing  its  way 
outward.  For  a  real  poet  the  suggestion 
of  beauty  to  come  might  mean  more  than 
its  later  fulfillment,  but  to  the  two  thought 
less  youths  who  seated  themselves  upon  a 
blanket-covered  bench  beneath  the  trees, 
clapping  their  hands  loudly  until  a  red- 
cheeked  maid  brought  them  tea  and  cakes, 
then  took  out  their  writing-cases,  poem- 
cards,  and  sake-bottles  to  seek  a  borrowed 
inspiration,  the  bare,  gnarled  trunks  gave 
little  material  for  composition.  For  a  while 
they  thought  and  wrote  in  silence,  but  the 
quiet  and  beauty  of  the  place  did  not  ap 
peal  to  their  excitement-pampered  tastes, 
and  it  was  Komura  at  last  who  dashed  his 
effort  to  the  ground,  shut  up  his  writing- 
case  with  a  snap,  and  jumped  into  his 
clogs. 

"  Come  on,  old  man,  I  can  show  you  an 

THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


178  adventure  worth  two  of  this,"  he  cried, — 
"an  adventure  that  Yoshitsune  l  himself 
might  envy ! " 

Teichi  rose  to  the  bait,  glad  enough  to 
leave  a  place  in  the  seclusion  of  which 
unwelcome  thoughts  kept  crowding  and 
would  not  be  driven  out. 

"I'm  with  you,  boy,  lead  on ! "  he 
shouted.  "  Wait  till  I  pay  the  tea-money, 
and  then  we  're  off." 

In  the  long  jinrikisha  ride  to  Fukagawa 
that  followed,  Komura  took  the  lead,  and 
Teichi,  sleepy  with  the  sake  he  had  taken, 
sat  loosely  in  his  little  carriage,  with  red 
face  and  closed  eyes.  At  last  they  stopped 
at  a  neat  gateway  in  a  green  bamboo 
fence,  and  Komura  roused  him  from  his 
slumbers  with  a  shake. 

"  Here  we  are  now.  Collect  yourself  and 
put  on  your  prettiest  manners,  for  we 
are  to  make  a  call  upon  a  real  lady,  — 

1  A  hero  of  the  twelfth  century,  noted  not  only 
for  his  skill  in  war,  but  also  for  his  adventures  with 
the  fair  sex. 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


one  whom  even  you,  with  all  your  aristo-    179 
cratic  notions,  would  be  glad  to  marry  if 
you  could." 

Teichi,  prepared  for  any  adventure  with 
a  young  person  of  doubtful  reputation, 
shrank  back  at  his  friend's  words. 

"  But  her  father  !  What  would  her  father 
think?" 

"Old  lijima,  her  father,  is  far  enough 
away.  No  fear  of  him  !  He 's  taken  up  with 
a  young  wife,  and  leaves  his  daughter  here 
alone  because  the  two  women  cannot  live 
in  one  house.  He  '11  never  know.  Trust 
the  girl  to  keep  her  secret.  I  've  called  on 
her  once  or  twice  before,"  and  he  winked 
in  a  meaning  way. 

Still  reluctant,  for  some  spark  of  honor 
yet  remained  to  him,  but  curious  to  see 
the  young  woman,  Teichi  pocketed  his 
scruples.  Komura  rang  the  bell  at  the 
gate,  and  soon,  on  clattering  clogs,  an 
elderly  maid-servant  answered  the  sum 
mons. 

"Welcome,    Dr.    Komura,"    she    said, 

THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


i8o  bowing  and  smiling.  "  Come  in  and 
bring  with  you  your  honorable  compan 
ion." 

Komura,  with  an  air  of  professional 
gravity,  entered  the  gate,  introducing  his 
friend  as  Dr.  Ogiwara. 

"And  how  is  your  mistress  since  my 
last  visit  ?  "  he  inquired.  "  Her  father  bade 
me  call  again  and  make  sure  that  she  was 
improving." 

"  Truly,  she  is  much  better,  doctor,  but 
still  she  is  restless  and  feverish  at  times, 
and  sometimes  I  fear  that  all  is  not  well. 
I  will  call  her  and  let  you  see  her." 

"  Remember,  O  Kuni  San,  give  her  no 
hint  that  I  am  a  physician.  Tell  her  only 
that  a  friend  of  her  father  has  come  with 
a  message  from  him." 

"  Indeed,  doctor,  I  will  give  no  hint," 
answered  O  Kuni,  bowing  profoundly  as 
she  left  the  room. 

Komura  and  Ogiwara  discussed  their 
tea  and  cake  in  silence  while  the  maid  was 
gone,  for  paper  walls  have  ears,  and  eyes 

IN   THE   LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


as  well,  and  discretion  in  speech  and  act    181 
is  a  necessary  precaution  in  a  Japanese 
house. 

Soon  there  was  a  double  pattering  of 
feet  without,  the  sliding  doors  were  pushed 
open,  and  a  graceful,  slender  girl,  dressed 
in  the  montzuki  or  ceremonial  dress,  crouch 
ing  at  the  threshold,  bowed  humbly  to  the 
two  young  men,  greeting  them  as  friends 
of  her  father  and  murmuring  polite  and 
hospitable  phrases. 

Komura  bowed  in  return,  introduced 
Ogiwara,  gave  a  long  hypothetical  mes 
sage  from  her  father,  and  inquired  deferen 
tially  after  her  health.  When  at  last  the 
bows  and  speeches  of  ceremony  were  over, 
the  real  visit  began.  Komura,  as  usual,  was 
the  leader  of  the  conversation,  but  Ogiwara, 
sitting  almost  in  silence  beside  him,  used  his 
eyes  to  good  effect.  Never  had  he  seen  such 
beauty  in  a  woman,  never  such  charming 
ways,  such  bashful,  winning  smiles.  He 
compared  her  in  his  mind  with  the  crea 
tures  to  whom  of  late  his  attentions  had 

THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


1 82  been  given,  and  with  a  revulsion  of  feeling 
despised  himself  that  he  had  thought  them 
fascinating.  And  through  his  mind  went 
ringing  Komura's  words, — "a  real  lady  — 
one  whom  even  you  would  be  glad  to 
marry.".  * 

Komura,  heated  by  sake  and  flushed 
with  the  success  of  his  adventure,  chatted 
gayly  on,  growing  more  and  more  familiar, 
less  like  the  gentleman  he  affected  to  be, 
until  there  came  upon  the  face  of  his  little 
hostess,  and  of  her  maid  as  well,  a  look  of 
disgust  not  unmingled  with  terror.  Little  by 
little  he  dropped  the  niceties  of  language, 
the  subtle  use  of  honorifics  that  marks 
the  intercourse  between  persons  of  gentle 
breeding,  and  talked  to  the  little  lady  with 
the  easy,  coarse,  patronizing  familiarity 
that  he  was  wont  to  use  toward  the  women 
of  his  acquaintance.  Teichi  was  wakened 
from  his  reverie  by  seeing  his  companion 
lean  forward  and  lay  an  impudent  hand 
upon  the  shoulder  of  his  shocked  and 
shrinking  hostess.  Instantly  the  samurai 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


training  of  his  youth  came  to  the  front.    183 
He  seized  Komura  by  the  wrist. 

"Dog!"  he  hissed  between  set  teeth, 
"  would  you  insult  a  lady  in  her  own 
house?." 

Holding  him  in  an  iron  grasp,  he  turned 
to  little  Tsuyu,  crouching  frightened  with 
Kuni  behind  her. 

"If  the  young  lady  will  kindly  retire 
with  her  maid,  I  will  see  that  this  rude 
fellow  troubles  the  house  no  longer." 

With  hasty  bows  and  hurried  apologies 
for  the  trouble  they  were  causing  him,  the 
women  withdrew,  and  Ogiwara,  partly  by 
force  and  partly  by  persuasion,  dragged 
Komura  to  his  kuruma,  tumbled  him  in, 
and  ordered  the  runner  to  take  him  to  his 
lodgings.  For  himself,  the  day  of  careless 
pleasure  was  ended,  and  he  went  to  his 
home  as  fast  as  his  men  could  carry  him, 
thinking  the  while  with  remorse  of  the 
timid  smiles,  the  frightened,  pleading  eyes 
of  his  little  hostess. 

For  Teichi,  though  at  first  he  did  not 

THE  PEONY   LANTERN 


1 84  know  it,  was  in  love.  Day  and  night  the 
small  house  by  the  river,  with  its  charm 
ing  mistress,  seemed  calling  him.  He  had 
relapsed  into  his  old  loneliness,  for  the 
thought  of  Komura  was  hateful  to  him; 
and  though  the  two  men  met  at  lectures 
and  other  university  work,  they  did  nothing 
more  than  exchange  greetings.  All  inti 
macy  had  vanished  since  the  struggle  in  O 
Tsuyu's  quiet  guest-room.  As  the  months 
went  by,  old  Hanzo,  seeing  his  master 
moping  alone  at  home,  reading  the  Chinese 
classics,  studying  from  huge  foreign  books, 
eating  sparingly  and  without  relish,  drink 
ing  not  at  all,  grew  alarmed.  He  had  en 
joyed  the  old  days  of  wild  dissipation ;  he 
did  not  care  for  so  stern  and  grave  a  mas 
ter,  who  wanted  nothing  and  was  pleased 
with  nothing,  and  brought  no  friends  nor 
presents  to  the  house. 

<(  Is  the  master  ill,  that  he  goes  abroad 
no  more?"  he  suggested  deferentially. 

"  Nay,    Hanzo,   not  ill,   only  sad  and 
lonely." 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


"But  if  you  will  permit  the  suggestion  185 
from  one  so  unworthy,  would  it  not  be 
well  for  the  master  to  seek  relief  from  his 
sadness  and  loneliness  by  going  out  and 
seeing  his  friends  or  some  of  the  sights 
of  the  town  ?  " 

"  Indeed,  Hanzo,  your  care  for  me  is 
most  commendable,  but  I  have  already 
seen  too  much  of  my  friends  and  of  the 
town.  A  little  rest  is  what  I  need  most ; " 
and  Teichi  relapsed  into  silence. 

Hanzo  sat  pondering,  his  head  bowed, 
his  hands  drawn  up  within  his  blue  cotton 
sleeves.  At  last  he  spoke  again  :  — 

"  Will  the  master  pardon  my  stupidity 
if  I  make  a  suggestion  ?  " 

"  Say  on,  Hanzo,  I  am  listening." 

The  old  man  bowed  his  head  upon  his 
hands. 

"  Master,  I  know  a  man.  He  is  of  low 
birth  and  a  most  unworthy  person,  a  cou 
sin  of  my  own.  He  has  a  poor,  mean  boat, 
with  a  matted  deck-house  amidships,  and 
in  this  boat  he  sculls  along  the  river,  taking 

THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


1 86  out  pleasure  parties  by  the  day.  If  it  is 
desired  to  fish,  he  will  supply  the  bait  and 
tackle.  Would  it  not  save  your  honor  from 
his  sadness  to  spend  a  day  thus  upon  the 
river?" 

"  Good  Hanzo,"  said  the  young  man, 
touched  by  his  servant's  thoughtfulness  in 
his  behalf,  "  send  for  your  cousin.  Perhaps 
a  day  upon  the  river  is  what  I  need.  If 
he  has  no  other  engagement,  we  will  go 
to-morrow." 

And  so  it  came  about  that  the  next  day 
Ogiwara,  lying  on  the  mats  of  a  house 
boat  of  spotless  white  wood,  and  propelled 
by  strong  arms,  found  himself  on  the  river 
Sumida,  watching  with  lazy  interest  the 
crowds  of  small  craft  that  fill  the  stream 
above  the  iron  bridge.  Small  steam  ferry 
boats  towing  strings  of  passenger  barges 
sputtered  along  on  their  way  to  Mukojima 
and  H5rikiri,  well  patronized  to-day,  for 
the  great  iris-beds  were  in  full  bloom.  Wo 
men  and  brightly  dressed  girls  were  there 
in  plenty,  and  Teichi  scanned  them  eagerly 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


in  the  hope  that  he  might  catch  some  187 
glimpse  of  the  sweet  face  that  haunted  his 
dreams.  Other  house-boats  too,  like  his 
own,  were  there,  in  which  whole  families 
sat  and  gossiped  on  the  mats,  sipping  tea, 
smoking  pipes,  playing  games,  and  taking 
vast  delight  in  the  life  and  movement  of 
the  river.  Fast  racing  barges,  too,  came 
scurrying  along  under  the  impulse  of  the 
strong  young  arms  of  their  student  crews, 
picked  men  from  the  University,  the  Naval 
School,  and  many  other  of  the  higher 
schools  of  the  city. 

As  they  dropped  downstream  the  plea 
sure-boats  grew  fewer,  and  the  cargo-boats 
—  junks,  schooners,  and  small  coasting 
steamers  —  were  moored  or  anchored  near 
the  storehouses  from  which  the  city  is 
fed.  And  then,  still  lower  down,  they 
came  into  a  place  where  small  houses 
stood  in  gardens  running  down  to  the 
water's  edge. 

Ogiwara  left  the  fishing  to  Hanzo,  and 
spent  his  time  in  a  meditation  that  was  still 

THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


1 88  conscious  of  the  continually  changing  scene 
through  which  they  moved. 

"  Look,  Hanzo,  is  not  this  Fukagawa 
we  are  passing?" 

"  Truly,  master,  it  is  Fukagawa." 

"  And,  Hanzo,  do  you  see  that  gate  that 
opens  toward  the  river  ?  Bid  your  cousin 
bring  the  boat  close  to  the  gate,  that  I  may 
see  therein." 

Softly  the  boat  glided  to  the  open  gate, 
and  Teichi  looked  into  a  little  garden,  green 
and  damp  and  shady,  with  an  iris-bed  in 
full  bloom  close  to  a  miniature  pond.  As 
he  stepped  from  the  boat  O  Kuni  came 
running  to  him,  her  clogs  making  no  sound 
on  the  soft,  mossy  earth. 

"  Welcome,"  she  said  ;  "  please  enter  our 
humble  cottage.  My  young  lady  has  been 
waiting  so  long  for  you,  and  you  did  not 
come!  Now  she  is  very  ill.  She  cannot 
eat,  and  she  is  growing  thinner  every  day. 
She  will  be  so  glad  that  you  have  come!" 

Teichi  walked  up  through  the  pleasant 
garden,  stepped  upon  the  polished  piazza, 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


and  as  O  Kuni  pushed  aside  the  shoji,  189 
bowed  low,  murmuring  polite  phrases  of 
pleasure  at  meeting  O  Tsuyu  again.  As 
he  lifted  his  head  and  looked  at  the  lady 
of  his  dreams,  his  heart,  just  now  madly 
elated,  fell  like  a  lump  of  lead  in  his  breast ; 
for  it  was  the  same  sweet  face  and  smile, 
but  pale  and  wan  ;  the  same  graceful  figure, 
but  so  thin  that  the  loose  robe  she  wore 
seemed  to  have  nothing  within  it. 

"  Oh,  I  am  so  glad,  —  so  glad,"  she  said, 
and  tears  rose  in  her  eyes  and  rolled  down 
her  hollow  cheeks.  "  It  is  long  since  you 
were  here !  Why  did  you  not  come  be 
fore?" 

Very  gently  he  soothed  her,  and  in  a 
long,  long  talk  they  told  their  love.  How 
swiftly  the  hours  passed  !  It  was  only  when 
the  setting  sun  turned  the  river  into  molten 
gold  that  they  remembered  anything  of 
time  and  place.  Then  Tsuyu  started  with 
a  shudder :  — 

"  Oh,  go  !  go  ! "  she  said.  "  What  if  my 
father  should  find  you  here  ! " 


THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


190  "Give  me,  then,  some  token  of  your 
love,  —  something  to  draw  me  back  to 
you,  —  a  pledge  that  you  are  mine  and 
I  am  yours. " 

Hurriedly  she  drew  from  a  little  cup 
board  in  the  tokonoma  a  white  wooden 
case,  and  from  it  took  a  gold-lacquered 
incense-box. 

"Here,"  she  said,  "this  was  my  mo 
ther's.  I  have  always  kept  it  with  me  until 
now.  The  half  of  it  I  give  to  you,  —  a 
pledge  of  love  through  seven  lives." 

He  took  it  from  her  with  eager  hands, 
lifted  it  to  his  face  and  touched  it  rev 
erently  to  his  forehead,  then  hid  it  in  his 
sleeve. 

"Through  seven  lives  I  will  be  true,"  he 
said. 

Just  then  there  was  a  loud  whirr  of 
kuruma  wheels  without,  a  clatter  of  clogs 
upon  the  stone  walk.  With  a  hissing  rush 
the  sliding-doors  flew  open,  and  a  man's 
face,  distorted  with  rage,  was  looking  down 
upon  them  both. 

IN  THE   LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


"  Fellow,  who  are  you  who  dare  to  enter    191 
my  daughter's  house  in  my  absence?" 

There  was  a  rush,  a  struggle,  —  Ogi- 
wara  felt  himself  overpowered,  and  was 
awaiting  death  from  the  sharp,  short  dirk 
of  his  adversary,  when  O  Tsuyu's  soft  arm 
was  thrown  around  him,  her  gentle  voice 
cried :  — 

"  Father,  oh,  father,  kill  me  instead  !  I 
am  the  wicked  one." 

The  voice  died  in  a  gurgle,  and  Ogiwara 
shouted  hoarsely  at  the  wretch,  who  had 
buried  his  knife  in  the  soft  round  throat  of 
his  daughter. 

"Master," — it  was  Hanzo's  well-trained 
servant's  voice,  —  "  master,  a  dream  is 
troubling  your  slumber,  and  the  boat  has 
reached  her  mooring-place.  Will  it  please 
you  to  permit  me  to  pay  my  worthless  cou 
sin  and  seek  kurumas  for  our  return  ?  " 

Teichi,  opening  his  dazed  eyes,  saw 
about  him  the  busy  river,  —  the  pleasure- 
boats,  the  little  steamers,  the  holiday- 
makers  returning  from  their  flower-view- 

THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


192  ing,  —  and  knew  that  it  was  only  a  dream. 
With  a  sigh,  partly  of  regret  that  he  had 
not  really  seen  his  beloved,  and  greatly 
of  relief  that  he  might  hope  to  find  her 
some  day  in  the  land  of  the  living,  he  rose, 
and  soon  was  rattling  through  the  prosaic 
modern  streets  toward  his  home  in  Negi- 
shi. 

As  he  took  off  his  clothing  for  the  night, 
he  felt  a  flat,  hard  something  in  his  sleeve, 
and  searching  there  he  found  a  piece  of 
golden  lacquer,  the  lid  of  an  incense-box. 
Upon  it  had  been  painted  by  some  great 
artist  of  the  past  the  seven  flowers  of  au 
tumn,  and  here  and  there,  on  the  polished, 
gleaming  surface,  slight  spots,  as  of  mould, 
had  begun  to  show  themselves.  "  A  pledge 
of  love  through  seven  lives  !  "  Surely  it 
was  a  dream,  and  yet  —  this  lacquered 
box  —  where  did  it  come  from  ? 

Hanzo  had  no  special  reason  to  be 
proud  of  the  successful  issue  of  his  effort  for 
his  master's  entertainment.  Ogiwara  grew 
more  silent  and  ascetic.  He  spent  long 

IN   THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


hours  alone  in  his  room  with  closed  doors,    193 
and  once,  when  the  old  man  had  placed 
his  eye  to  a  tongue-made  hole  in  the  paper 
of  the  shojij  he  had  seen  him  looking  at  a 
gold-lacquered  box-lid  like  one  demented. 

"  The  master  is  surely  crazy,"  he  said  to 
Koma.  "I  will  go  to  his  friend  Komura 
San,  and  tell  him  about  it" 

Komura  heard  the  story  of  Ogiwara's 
strange  freak  with  unchanging  face  and 
half-closed  eyes  that  looked  not  once  upon 
the  humble  Hanzo,  crouched  at  the  thresh 
old  and  bowing  at  the  end  of  every  sen 
tence.  When  he  spoke,  it  was  only  to  chide 
Hanzo  politely  for  his  officiousness,  and  tell 
him  that  he  need  not  fear  for  his  place. 

"  The  master  will  soon  recover, "  he  said 
patronizingly.  "  I  have  seen  young  fellows 
before  who  thought  they  were  in  love. 
When  he  knows  the  girl  is  beyond  his 
reach,  he  will  be  himself  again." 

Not  many  days  later,  Komura,  pocketing 
his  pride,  called  at  the  villa  in  Negishi. 

"  What's  happened  to  you,  old  fellow?" 

THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


194  ne  said  to  Ogiwara,  after  the  first  greetings 
were  over.  "  You  look  as  if  you  had  been 
living  with  ghosts  until  you  were  all  ready 
to  become  one  yourself ! " 

Teichi  started.  The  color  rushed  to  his 
face,  then  left  him  pale  as  death.  Komura 
rattled  on,  observing  but  giving  no  sign  :  — 

"  You  have  been  shy  of  all  the  fellows 
since  our  last  adventure,  at  Fukagawa. 
You  need  society.  What  do  you  say  to 
some  kind  of  a  spree  to-night  ?  " 

Teichi  shuddered.  He  could  not  look 
Komura  in  the  face  when  he  thought  of 
his  coarse  manners  and  low  behavior,  and 
O  Tsuyu's  frightened  eyes.  He  muttered 
something  scarcely  intelligible  about  his 
studies  and  the  necessity  for  hard  work  if 
he  would  get  his  degree  with  his  class. 
Komura  was  angry.  Here  he  had  gone 
more  than  half  way,  and  now  Ogiwara 
refused  to  take  one  step  toward  renewing 
their  old  comradeship. 

"  When  you  get  your  degree,  if  you  ever 
do,"  he  said  with  a  sneer,  "  I  hope  it  will 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


bring  you  better  success  as  a  physician    195 
than  you  have  had  so  far.    Do  you  know 
the  effect  of  your  last  professional  call?" 

His  companion  was  at  last  roused  to 
interest. 

"  Komura,"  he  said,  "  if  you  are  not 
ashamed  to  speak  of  that  day,  I  need  not 
be.  Tell  me  what  you  mean." 

Into  his  eyes  rushed  the  spirit  of  his  race. 
Komura  remembered  the  stories  Ogiwara 
had  told  him  in  his  roistering  days  of  the 
practice  in  jiu-jitsu,  in  sword-play,  in  arch 
ery,  and  with  modern  firearms,  that  had 
been  his  training  under  his  father's  roof. 
The  sneer  changed  for  a  wheedling  tone 
of  apology  as  he  watched  Teichi's  strong 
brown  fingers  twitching  with  emotion. 

"Why,  Ogiwara,  how  long  is  it  since 
you  have  become  so  dignified  that  you  can 
not  take  a  joke?  I  meant  no  harm,  but 
that  hot  samurai  blood  of  yours  is  always 
on  the  lookout  for  an  insult.  I  only  meant 
that  the  girl  was  dead.  She  died  a  few 
weeks  after  our  visit." 

THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


196  "  Dead  ! "  Teichi  looked  at  Komura  as 
if  only  half  comprehending.  "  Dead !  Then 
it  was  not  a  dream  !  He  did  kill  her  after 
all ! " 

"  No  one  killed  her,"  rejoined  Komura 
testily.  "How  you  do  go  ahead  of  a  fellow's 
words !  She  just  died.  Kuni  told  me,  and 
said  she  grew  very  ill  after  our  visit,  and 
when  she  died  your  name  was  on  her 
lips." 

"  My  name  1 "  Teichi's  voice  rose  into  a 
wail.  "  No  wonder  that  I  dream  of  her  by 
night  and  think  of  her  by  day.  It  is  her 
spirit  that  comes  to  me,  —  her  spirit  that 
cannot  rest  because  I  love  her  so." 

He  buried  his  face  in  his  sleeves  and  his 
whole  body  shook  with  sobs,  while  Komura, 
a  fierce  grin  of  satisfaction  on  his  face  at 
the  revenge  that  was  his,  sat  and  watched 
him. 

When  Teichi  lifted  his  head,  Komura, 
his  features  moulded  into  an  expression  of 
sympathetic  gravity,  was  still  sitting  near 
him. 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


"  Why,  Ogiwara,  old  man,"  he  said,  "  I    197 
had  no  idea  that  you  were  so  hard  hit. 
Can  I  do  anything  for  you  ?   I  have  got 
you  into  this  trouble,  and  I  would  do  any 
thing  to  help  you  out." 

"  Go,  call  me  a  priest,"  said  Ogiwara.  "  I 
would  have  masses  said  for  that  sweet  soul, 
for  it  cannot  rest." 

"  Ogiwara,"  —  Komura's  voice  was  as 
smooth  as  the  rustle  of  silk,  and  he  laid 
his  hand  sympathetically  upon  his  com 
panion's  arm,  —  "if  you  will  permit  one 
who  shares  your  grief  to  advise  you,  let 
me  speak  before  I  carry  out  your  will." 

"  Say  on,"  answered  the  younger  man, 
"and  if  you  have  aught  to  suggest  that 
will  be  of  help  to  her  or  to  me,  be  quick 
with  it." 

"  Ogiwara,  it  is  you  she  loves,  and  your 
companionship  she  seeks.  The  sing-song 
prayers  of  a  thousand  priests  will  be  no 
thing  to  her.  Don't  you  know  that  one  visit 
to  her  grave,  one  offering  of  incense  and 
fresh  water  and  flowers  from  you,  will  be 

THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


198  dearer  to  her  than  your  whole  fortune  spent 
in  masses?" 

"  Let  us  go  to  her  grave !  Come 
quickly  !  "  Teichi  leaped  to  his  feet  and 
seized  Komura.  "  We  will  go  at  once." 

"  But  we  cannot  go  now.  I  do  not  know 
where  she  is  buried.  Rest  here  quietly  for 
a  few  days  while  I  find  out.  Then  I  will 
come  and  lead  you  to  it." 

Komura' s  voice  was  softer  than  the 
murmur  of  the  summer  breeze  through 
a  garden.  Teichi  looked  into  his  eyes, 
which  answered  back  his  gaze  with  the 
innocent  unconsciousness  of  a  kitten, 
then  released  his  hold. 

"  I  will  wait,"  he  said,  "  but  come  soon, 
for  I  cannot  bear  a  long  delay."  His  mouth 
was  twitching,  beads  of  perspiration  stood 
on  his  forehead,  and  a  deadly  pallor  fol 
lowed  the  flush  of  anger. 

Komura  bowed  and  slipped  away,  thank 
ing  his  lucky  stars  that  he  was  alive,  and 
vowing  that  it  would  be  a  long  time  before 
he  trusted  his  precious  skin  with  that  lu- 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


natic  again.  Nor  would  he  have  been  199 
reassured  if  he  had  seen  his  friend  shut 
himself  tightly  in  his  room,  draw  from  his 
sleeve  a  gold-lacquered  box-lid,  and  sit 
looking  at  it  with  streaming  eyes  until  the 
long  summer  day  died  gently  into  twilight, 
and  Hanzo  with  silent  step  stole  into  the 
room  to  find  his  master's  head  fallen  upon 
his  little  desk,  while  in  his  hand  he  still 
clutched  the  bit  of  lacquer. 

And  so  the  wretched  days  slipped  by, 
and  August  with  its  steaming  heat  and 
myriad  odors  hung  over  the  drooping  city. 
Only  the  great  white  lotus1  blossoms  in 
the  Castle  moats,  drawing  their  beauty 
from  the  black  and  evil-smelling  slime, 
basked  in  the  sultry  sunshine. 

"  Flowers  of  the  dead,"  thought  Ogi- 
wara,  "spirits  that  rise  like  hers  from  the 
foulness  and  evil  below,  and  bear  without 
scathe  the  heavenly  glory  that  wilts  all 
others ! " 

1  The  lotus  is  always  associated  with  death  in  the 
Japanese  mind. 

THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


200  The  festival  of  O  Bon l  has  come,  and 
along  the  city  streets  are  kindled  fires  to 
light  the  returning  spirits  to  their  homes  ; 
on  every  porch  and  balcony  are  hung  lan 
terns,  glowing  balls  of  light,  some  with 
long  streamers  that  wave  and  flutter  in  the 
breeze,  or  bits  of  glass  that  tinkle  as  if 
ghostly  hands  were  making  music ;  and  in 
every  home,  before  the  ancestral  tablets 
are  set  special  offerings  of  fruits  and  fresh 
vegetables ;  while  in  the  graveyards,  tombs 
are  cleared  from  moss,  newly  served  with 
food  and  drink,  and  decorated  with  lan 
terns. 

In  the  little  house  in  Negishi,  Ogiwara 
had  set  beside  the  tablets  of  his  father  and 
mother  a  new  and  costly  one  on  which  the 
name  of  Tsuyu  was  engraved.  And  as  he 
made  the  offerings  which  filial  piety  and 
his  own  affection  enjoined  before  the  other 
two,  he  offered  yet  more  abundant  gifts 
to  the  memorial  of  her  whom  he  had  come 
to  call  his  "  spirit  bride."  He  was  alone. 
1  See  note  i,  page  3. 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


Hanzo  and  Koma  had  for  once  left  their  201 
small  house  in  the  yard  to  visit  the  graves 
of  their  parents  on  the  other  side  of  the  city. 
He  sat  on  the  veranda,  looking  into  the 
damp  greenness  of  the  garden  that  seemed 
resting  from  the  stifling  heat  of  the  day. 
The  lanterns  above  his  head  glowed  softly, 
great  fireflies  flickered  among  the  shrub 
bery.  Peace  such  as  he  had  not  known  for 
months  stole  over  his  spirit. 

There  was  a  clicking  of  clogs  and  a 
sound  of  gentle  voices  in  the  lane.  Teichi 
started.  There  was  something  strange  yet 
familiar  in  their  tones.  He  stepped  down 
from  the  veranda  into  a  pair  of  garden  san 
dals,  and  walked  noiselessly  to  the  hedge, 
through  which  he  peered.  Two  figures 
were  moving  toward  the  gate,  one  of  them 
carrying  an  O  Bon  lantern  and  leading 
the  other  by  the  hand.  The  light  shone 
upon  their  white  faces,  and  he  could  see 
as  they  drew  near  that  the  lantern-bearer 
was  O  Kuni,  and  by  her  side  walked  little 
Tsuyu. 

THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


2O2  There  was  no  fear  nor  hesitation  in  his 
walk  as  he  hurried  to  the  gate  to  welcome 
them.  There  she  was,  not  as  he  had  seen 
her  in  his  dream,  pale  and  hollow-cheeked, 
but  bright,  girlish,  charming,  as  she  had 
been  on  the  day  of  his  visit  to  her  home. 
When  she  saw  him,  one  little  hand  went 
shyly  to  her  face,  and  her  flowing  sleeve 
hid  all  but  her  shining  eyes  from  his  en 
chanted  gaze. 

"  Welcome,"  he  said,  bowing  low.  "  Wel 
come  to  my  humble  home.  Enter,  if  it 
please  you,  and  let  me  offer  you  some  slight 
refreshment." 

With  many  formal  bows  and  deprecat 
ing  phrases  they  were  at  last  installed  in 
his  guest-room.  The  lantern,  a  translucent 
globe  of  white  paper,  with  trailing  stream 
ers  and  a  bunch  of  many-colored  peonies 
at  the  top,  was  hung  from  the  eaves,  where 
it  glowed  and  waved  its  paper  streamers 
in  the  cool  breeze  that  had  sprung  up  at 
their  entrance. 

With  curious  eyes  O  Tsuyu  looked  at 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


the  tablets  on  the  sacred  shelf.   The  tiny    203 
streams  of  smoke  that  had  been  rising 
straight  as  needles  toward  the  low  ceiling, 
now   wavered  and  twisted    into   strange 
shapes. 

"The  tablets  of  your  honorable  ances 
tors?"  she  said. 

"Yes,  truly,"  answered  Teichi,  feeling 
uncomfortable  as  he  thought  of  the  offer 
ings  he  had  just  made  to  the  spirit  of  one 
who  was  now  beside  him  in  the  body. 

O  Kuni  San  bowed,  and  in  a  humble 
voice  began  the  story  of  all  that  had 
happened  since  the  memorable  visit  to  the 
cottage  in  Fukagawa. 

"  My  young  lady,"  she  said,  "  could 
never  forget  you  and  how  bravely  you  had 
saved  her  from  Komura  San's  indignities. 
She  hoped  that  you  would  return,  and 
waited  sadly  for  you,  until  at  last  she  grew 
so  ill  that  her  father  was  anxious.  I  do  not 
know  who  told  him  of  your  visit,  —  Komura 
San,  perhaps,  for  he  was  very  angry  at 
you,  —  but  he  learned  about  it,  and  then  he 

THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


2O4  said  that  there  was  nothing  to  do  with  such 
a  forward  girl  but  to  marry  her  to  the  first 
man  that  offered.  And  then  "  —  O  Kuni's 
voice  trembled  slightly  and  O  Tsuyu's 
head  bowed  low  behind  her  sleeves,  —  "  he 
came  one  day  and  said  that  Komura  San 
was  willing  to  marry  my  young  lady  in 
spite  of  all  that  had  happened,  because 
now  you  were  dead  and  could  not  make 
any  further  trouble.  O  Jo  Sama1  could  not 
bear  it, — she  had  always  hated  the  man,  — 
and  so  at  last  she  escaped,  and  I  with  her. 
She  has  now  a  small  house  at  Aoyama,  so 
small  a  house  that  perhaps  you  could  not 
find  it  if  you  were  to  look,  but  she  is 
happy,  and  I  am  still  with  her  to  care  for 
her  as  I  have  done  since  she  was  a  baby. 
But  still  she  thinks  of  you,  and  to-night 
we  came  to  worship  before  your  tablet." 

Ogiwara  listened  to  this  recital  with 
growing  amazement.  It  was  so  like,  yet 
so  unlike  what  he  had  heard  before. 

1  The  title  used  in  speaking  to  or  about  a  young 
unmarried  lady. 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


"  Komura  San  told  me  that  O  Tsuyu  205 
was  dead,"  he  said,  "  and  I  have  prayed 
and  offered  gifts  to  her  spirit.  I  might 
have  known  that  he  was  lying,  and  that 
he  had  some  evil  plan  behind  that  gentle 
voice  of  his.  But  nothing  matters  now. 
We  are  both  alive  and  together,  and  no 
one  can  part  us  again." 

It  was  not  until  the  wan  light  of  the 
morning  had  begun  to  break  that  Ogiwara 
let  his  visitors  out  and  watched  their  fig 
ures  vanish  softly  through  the  mist,  nor 
knew  that  Hanzo  from  his  garden  lodge 
had  seen  the  women  as  they  passed.  There 
was  a  faintness,  a  smoky,  misty  look  about 
them  as  they  disappeared  from  sight  that 
set  the  old  man  thinking.  Bidding  O  Koma 
attend  the  master  if  he  called,  and  serve 
his  breakfast,  Hanzo  slipped  into  his  clogs 
and  clattered  along  the  street  and  up  the 
hill  by  wide  flights  of  stone  steps  to  the 
temple  of  Kwannon  that  stood  amid  its 
cedars  not  far  away.  The  priest's  house 
stood  beside  the  temple,  and  the  old  man, 

THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


206  stopping  before  it,  bowed  low  and  cried  in 
a  humble  voice :  — 

"  Excuse  the  trouble  I  am  making  you." 

A  little  black-robed  acolyte,  with  chubby 
face  and  neatly  shaven  head,  answered  his 
summons  and  bade  him  enter.  Hanzo,  sit 
ting  on  his  heels  close  to  the  door,  waited 
until,  in  flowing  silken  vestment,  ready  for 
the  great  temple  service  that  was  soon  to 
begin,  an  old  priest  came  to  learn  his  need. 

"  Your  Reverence,"  he  said,  "it  is  on 
behalf  of  my  master  I  am  come.  He  lives 
not  far  from  here,  and  I  am  troubled  lest 
evil  spirits  have  bewitched  him." 

As  Hanzo  told  his  story  of  the  change 
that  had  come  over  his  master,  the  priest 
listened  with  an  occasional  sympathetic 
exclamation,  and  when  at  the  end  the  old 
servant  described  the  vague,  cloud-like  fig 
ures  that  had  emerged  from  the  house  at 
dawn,  the  holy  man  shook  his  head. 

"  Clearly,"  he  said,  "  some  evil  ghost  is 
troubling  him.  For  sin  committed  either  in 
this  life  or  in  the  past,  he  is  bearing  now 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


the  punishment.   Could  you  persuade  him    207 
to  come  here  to  me,  to  study  the  Master's 
Law  and  learn  the  control  of  the  flesh,  all 
might  yet  be  well  with  him." 

Hanzo  shook  his  head.  "  Your  Rever 
ence,"  he  said,  "  my  master  is  a  man  of 
proud  and  impetuous  spirit.  His  old  ser 
vant  could  hardly  persuade  him  to  become 
a  monk,"  and  he  smiled  between  his  hands 
as  he  bowed  himself  to  the  mats,  thinking 
how  little  such  a  course  would  make  for  the 
servant's  welfare.  "  Is  there  no  other  way  ?  " 

"A  way  there  is  indeed,  which  may 
avail,  if  the  young  man's  soul  is  not  al- 
read)^  knit  to  the  spirit  that  haunts  him. 
The  words  of  the  Lord  Buddha  have  power 
to  drive  out  evil  ghosts,  if  he  whom  they 
seek  does  not  will  them  to  enter." 

Armed  with  a  talisman,  the  good  words 
of  the  Law  written  on  white  paper  by  the 
priest  himself,  Hanzo  went  home,  to  find 
his  master  already  out. 

"  Where  did  the  master  go  ?  "  he  asked 
of  O  Koma,  who  had  seen  him  off. 

THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


208  "  He  told  the  runners  to  take  him  to 
Aoyama,  but  gave  no  street  or  number." 

"  And  was  he  any  more  sad  and  strange 
than  he  has  always  been  of  late  ?  " 

"  Nay,  Hanzo,  he  was  bright  and  merry, 
and  waved  me  good-by,  and  said  that  he 
should  probably  bring  guests  home  with 
him." 

Still  perturbed  in  spirit,  but  somewhat 
cheered  by  Koma's  account  of  Ogiwara's 
mood,  Hanzo  pottered  about  his  work; 
while  the  master,  bowling  along  behind 
two  fast-running  kurumayas,  was  saying  to 
himself  with  each  revolution  of  the  wheels, 
"  I  '11  find  her  house  if  it  takes  all  day." 

Through  narrow  streets  and  wide,  across 
moats  and  canals,  by  grass-grown  fortifica 
tions  topped  with  leaning  pine-trees,  along 
the  sentinel-guarded  wall  of  the  Crown 
Prince's  Palace  and  across  the  great  parade 
ground  where  white-clad  regiments  were 
drilling,  into  a  suburb  of  green  lanes,  bam 
boo  fences,  grassy  fields,  and  here  and 
there  a  rice-swamp,  he  came  at  last.  Here 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


he  dismissed  his  men  and,  alone  and  on  209 
foot,  wandered  from  house  to  house,  read 
ing  the  name-boards  that  hung  before  each 
gate.  It  was  a  fruitless  search.  No  lijima 
Tsuyu  Ko  was  to  be  found  among  them 
all.  His  gayety  was  gone.  Tired  out  with 
heat  and  disappointment,  he  turned  at  last 
toward  home.  In  the  sultry  August  after 
noon  the  little  open-fronted  shops  were 
drowsing  under  their  overhanging  eaves. 
No  kuruma  was  in  sight,  hardly  a  foot- 
traveler  was  visible.  Teichi  stood  before 
the  gate  of  the  great  cemetery.  Within,  it 
looked  cool  and  quiet  and  green.  There 
was  an  odor  of  incense  about  it.  Fresh 
flowers  stood  on  every  stone,  and  here  and 
there  quiet  parties  of  women  and  children 
were  brushing  with  reverent  hands  fallen 
petals  or  stray  leaves  from  the  graves. 

Listlessly  he  wandered  in,  thinking  of 
nothing  but  the  quiet  green  coolness  of 
the  place,  and  walking  slowly  toward  the 
opposite  gate,  where  he  was  sure  to  find 
a  kuruma  to  take  him  home.  And  as  he 

THE   PEONY  LANTERN 


2io  walked  with  down-dropped  head,  he  saw 
before  him  a  new-made  grave.  It  had  no 
stone,  only  an  upright  pole  set  up  to  mark 
the  spot,  —  sign  that  the  first  year  had  not 
passed  since  death,  —  and  hanging  above 
the  grave,  waving  slightly  even  in  the  still 
sultry  heat  of  the  August  afternoon,  was 
the  peony  lantern  which  had  glowed  from 
his  veranda  the  previous  night. 

"  Such  a  small  house  that  perhaps  you 
could  not  find  it,  even  if  you  were  to  look 
—  but  I  am  still  with  her  to  care  for  her  — 
and  she  is  happy. " 

O  Kuni's  words  were  in  his  ears  as  his 
tears  fell  fast  above  the  "  small  house." 

"  At  last  she  escaped,  and  I  with  her  "  — 
Well  he  understood  now  the  words  which 
last  night  had  meant  so  little  to  his  dull 
brain. 

"  Happy  escape,"  he  said  to  himself. 
"  O  Tsuyu  San,  I  too  must  escape  and  be 
happy ! " 

Somehow  or  other  he  reached  his  home 
in  Negishi,  and  Hanzo's  heart  sank  when 

IN   THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


he  saw  his  master's  face.    Untouched  he    211 
sent  away  the   supper   that   Koma   had 
prepared  for  his  expected  guests,  and  then 
dismissed  his  servants  for  the  night. 

"I  must  have  a  long  rest,  —  I  am  tired," 
he  said.  "  Do  not  wake  me  before  nine 
to-morrow  morning." 

Hanzo  had  pasted  above  the  gate  the 
talisman  that  the  good  priest  had  given 
him,  but  it  was  with  an  anxious  heart  that 
he  closed  up  the  shutters  for  the  night  and 
then  lay  and  listened  like  a  cat,  wondering 
and  dreading  what  the  night  might  bring 
forth. 

There  was  a  faint  clicking  of  clogs,  and 
then  two  women's  voices  speaking  in  low 
tones  outside  the  gate.  Then  came  a  stifled 
sobbing  and  a  wail,  thin  and  piercing, 
shrilled  into  words  :  — 

"  Teichi,  oh,  Teichi,  would  you  send  me 
away?" 

Trembling,  but  with  every  sense  alert, 
Hanzo  heard  the  master  slide  the  amado 
aside,  heard  him  pat-pat  in  the  garden  san- 

THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


212  dais  to  the  gate,  heard  the  heavy  bolt  move 
in  its  socket  and  the  hinges  groan.  He 
dared  not  look,  but  all  his  brains  were 
centred  in  his  ears. 

"  O  Tsuyu  San,"  came  in  a  whisper, 
"have  you  come  for  me?  I  too  would 
escape  and  dwell  with  you  in  your  small 
house  in  Aoyama." 

Hanzo  opened  his  eyes,  crawled  to  the 
ventilating  opening  in  the  amado,  and 
looked.  Two  forms  like  smoke  or  mist 
were  drifting  beside  his  master.  A  peony 
lantern,  glowing  and  waving,  lighted  their 
faces,  and  they  were  pale  as  death.  The 
voices  died  away,  the  floating  vague  fig 
ures  vanished  within  the  house,  and  softly, 
very  softly,  the  master's  amado  slid  back 
into  its  place. 

By  nine  o'clock  the  next  morning  the 
August  sun  had  flooded  all  the  little  gar 
den  with  its  light,  and  driven  far  away  the 
shadows  and  horrors  of  the  night.  Hanzo, 
obedient  to  his  master's  order,  pushed 
aside  the  amado,  his  fears  almost  at  rest  in 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


the  warmth  and  brightness  of  the  morning.  213 
All  was  quiet  within  and  dark ;  the  light 
from  the  one  opened  shutter  fell  across  the 
guest-room  into  the  little  four-mat  room  in 
which  the  master  slept.  And  he  was  sleep 
ing  still.  A  peony  lantern  hung  above  his 
head,  a  smile  lingered  upon  his  lips,  and 
clasped  tightly  in  his  hand  he  held  a  bit  of 
golden  lacquer,1  —  an  incense-box  with  lit 
tle  spots  of  mould  that  tarnished  its  bright 
ness,  and  on  its  lid  the  seven  flowers  of  au 
tumn  worked  by  a  master  hand.  Thus  the 
two  tokens  of  a  deathless  love  were  joined 
in  one  again,  and  Teichi  too  had  escaped 
and  was  happy. 

1  It  is  the  custom  in  Japan  to  bury  with  the  dead 
any  small  keepsakes  specially  prized  during  life.  The 
lacquered  incense-box  seems  to  have  been  such  a  keep 
sake,  given  to  Tsuyu  by  her  mother,  treasured  by  her 
in  life,  and  buried  with  her. 


THE  PEONY  LANTERN 


IX 


THE   LADY  OF  THE   SCROLL 


IX 

KINTARO  YAMAZAKI  was  sitting  in  his 
little  upper  room  with  a  letter  spread  out 
on  the  floor  in  front  of  him,  thinking.  He 
was  thinking  so  hard  that  his  brows  were 
wrinkled,  his  thick  black  hair  stood  up 
straight  on  his  head,  and  his  eyes,  fixed 
on  vacancy,  were  closed  to  two  narrow 
black  lines  in  his  handsome,  smooth, 
young  face. 

The  thought  did  not  seem  to  come  to  any 
result,  for  soon,  with  a  sigh,  he  wrenched 
himself  away  from  it,  reached  out  for  the 
little  tea  tray  that  stood  beside  him,  filled 
up  the  pot  from  the  kettle  that  steamed 
over  the  hibachi,  and  sipped  his  tea  from  a 
small  cup  with  much  gusto.  His  face  light 
ened  with  the  cheering  draught,  and  he 
said  aloud,  perhaps  by  way  of  strengthen 
ing  his  own  resolution,  "  I  will  ask  them 

THE  LADY  OF  THE  SCROLL 


218  to  wait.  Surely  they  might  let  me  finish 
my  studies  first ! " 

A  step  sounded  on  the  ladder-like  stair 
way  that  led  to  his  room.  There  was  a 
rustling  of  garments  in  the  passage,  and  a 
meek  voice  cried  out :  — 

"Excuse  the  trouble  I  am  making 
you." 

Kintaro  made  no  move  from  his  place. 
He  knew  it  was  his  landlady's  daughter 
coming  to  see  whether  he  had  tea  and  wa 
ter  and  charcoal  enough.  He  only  shouted 
rather  gruffly,  for  his  mind  was  still  on  his 
letter,  "  Come !  "  and  plunged  again  into 
thought.  The  sliding  paper  screen  was 
pushed  gently  open,  just  wide  enough  to 
admit  the  frowzy  head  and  broad  face  of 
O  Matsu. 

"  Excuse  the  trouble  I  am  making  you," 
she  said  again,  in  a  small,  humble  voice, 
and  bowed  to  the  matted  floor. 

"  Come  in  !  "  he  answered,  less  gruffly, 
and  the  girl  hitched  meekly  in  on  her  knees, 
pulled  in  the  charcoal  basket,  the  tea  caddy, 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


the  cold  water  pot,  and  a  long,  narrow    219 
bundle,  and  bowed  once  more. 

"  The  postman  brought  this  for  you," 
she  said,  as  she  bowed  again,  pushing  the 
bundle  toward  him  with  grimy  fingers. 

A  trace  of  curiosity  lighted  Kintaro's 
narrow  black  eyes,  but  the  girl  did  not 
observe  it,  as  he  nodded  stiffly  and  left  it 
lying.  She  knew  as  well  as  he  that  a  large 
package  by  mail  was  an  excitement  in  his 
life,  and  she  would  have  liked  to  stay  and 
watch  him  open  it ;  but  he  made  no  move, 
so  she  busied  herself  for  a  few  moments 
with  her  work  and  crept  humbly  from  the 
room,  to  lie  in  wait  outside  the  door  and 
listen. 

Kintaro  was  an  art  student  in  Tokyo, 
and  after  three  or  four  years  of  hard  study 
and  much  practice  he  was  beginning  to 
acquire  some  little  reputation.  He  had 
come  from  his  country  home  in  the  north 
with  the  idea  that  he  would  be  a  great 
artist.  He  had  made  his  way  into  the 
studio  of  one  of  the  foremost  painters  of 

THE  LADY  OF  THE  SCROLL 


220  the  day ;  and  had  cooked,  washed  dishes, 
run  errands,  swept,  mixed  colors,  cleaned 
brushes,  and  acted  as  servant  apprentice, 
until  his  good  temper,  perseverance,  and 
real  talent  had  procured  for  him  the  inter 
est  and  careful  attention  of  his  master. 
Little  by  little  he  had  learned  the  secrets 
of  art,  the  firm,  bold  strokes,  the  wonderful 
blending  of  colors  that  had  made  his  mas 
ter  famous,  and  now  he  was  taking  a  last 
year  in  the  art  school  of  the  Imperial  Uni 
versity  before  going  back  to  his  home.  He 
was  an  only  son,  and  his  parents  missed 
him  sorely.  He  was  given  what  seemed  to 
them  an  ample  allowance,  but  what  was, 
in  the  extravagant  modern  Tokyo,  a  mere 
pittance,  with  which,  for  this  last  year,  he 
could  only  rent  a  small  room  in  a  poor 
street,  and  live  in  the  cheapest  manner. 
The  little  daughter  of  the  house,  who  an 
swered  his  summons  when  he  clapped  his 
hands,  was  a  thorn  in  his  flesh.  She  was 
always  grimy  and  disheveled  ;  her  dress 
was  usually  badly  disarranged ;  she  was 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


curious  about  him  and  his  belongings ;  221 
and  once  when  he  came  home  at  an  unex 
pected  hour,  he  found  her  pawing  over 
his  sketches  with  dirty  fingers.  It  was  the 
instinct  of  self-defense  that  led  him  to  sit 
unmoved  and  without  interest  in  his  bun 
dle  while  she  puttered  about  her  work,  and 
the  same  instinct  that  led  him  to  recall  her 
after  her  exit  from  the  room  and  send  her 
out  into  the  street  for  a  package  of  ciga 
rettes  of  an  unusual  brand.  He  knew  it 
would  take  her  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  to 
find  them,  and  that  in  that  time  he  could 
satisfy  his  curiosity  without  appeasing  hers. 

With  a  sigh  of  relief  he  heard  her  bare 
feet  slipping  down  the  steep,  polished  stairs, 
and  then  the  clatter  of  her  clogs  as  she 
hastened  out  to  make  the  purchase.  He 
leaned  forward  and  took  up  the  bundle. 

"  From  Noguchi,"  he  said,  as  he  read 
the  superscription.  "What  in  the  world 
is  he  sending  me  ?  I  did  n't  even  know  he 
was  back  from  China  yet." 

He  untied  the  strings  and   unwrapped 

THE  LADY  OF  THE  SCROLL 


222  the  paper  as  he  spoke,  laying  bare  a  plain 
wooden  box,  tied  about  the  middle  with 
a  heavy  cord  of  red  silk.  Kintaro's  hand 
trembled  with  eagerness  as  he  opened  the 
box,  unrolled  the  yellow  cotton  in  which 
its  contents  were  wrapped,  and  carefully 
took  out  a  scroll  tied  with  silken  bands. 
Very  tenderly  he  unrolled  it,  until  at  last 
it  lay  at  full  length  on  the  mats. 

He  held  his  breath  with  amazement  and 
delight.  "  What  a  beauty  !  "  he  murmured 
at  last. 

It  was  a  picture  of  a  woman,  the  most 
beautiful  that  he  had  ever  seen.  The  grace 
ful  form  was  dressed  in  sumptuous  trailing 
garments,  the  fair,  oval  face  with  its  crown 
of  raven  hair  wore  an  expression  of  appeal 
ing  sadness.  The  lines  and  coloring  were 
only  such  as  a  master  can  command.  The 
picture  was  mounted  on  blue  brocade,  with 
carved  ivory  rollers  at  each  end.  As  Kin- 
taro  leaned  over  studying  it,  he  heard  the 
clatter  of  clogs  in  the  courtyard  below,  and 
hastily  rolling  up  his  treasure,  he  thrust  it 

IN   THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


into  its  box,  and  the  box  into  a  cupboard,    223 
before  the  bare  feet  had  reached  the  top  of 
the  stairs. 

Humbly  the  untidy  little  maid  bowed 
as  she  presented  the  package  of  cigarettes 
with  a  murmured  apology  for  her  delay  in 
procuring  them.  Kintaro  looked  at  her 
with  aversion.  "Why  do  they  want  me 
to  marry?"  he  thought  within  himself. 
"  Women  are  no  good.  I  don't  want  them 
around." 

He  got  up,  seized  his  hat,  and  pounded 
noisily  in  his  stocking-feet  down  the  stairs. 
He  must  get  out  into  the  streets,  among 
the  busy  crowds,  and  forget  his  thoughts. 

For  an  hour  or  more  he  tramped  along, 
so  abstracted  that  he  hardly  knew  where 
he  was  going.  Once  he  walked  right  over 
a  toddling  boy,  who  was  as  absorbed  in 
kite-flying  as  Kintaro  was  in  meditation, 
and  had  to  pick  him  up  and  give  him  a 
penny  to  spend  on  sweets  before  the  urchin 
would  cease  his  lusty  bawling.  Once  a  jin- 
rikisha  man  tearing  along  at  full  speed 

THE  LADY  OF  THE  SCROLL 


224  nearly  ran  into  him,  pushing  him  aside 
with  his  outstretched  hand  just  in  time  to 
prevent  a  catastrophe.  When  he  returned 
to  his  lodgings,  it  was  dark,  and  the  streets 
were  full  of  the  moving  luminous  globes 
that  light  the  jinrikisha  men  at  their  even 
ing  work. 

The  little  maid  met  him  at  the  door, 
bowing  low  and  murmuring  "  O  kaeri ! " 
by  way  of  greeting.  He  passed  up  to  his 
room,  where  a  lamp  was  burning,  a  tea 
kettle  bubbling  over  the  fire,  and  his  sup 
per  awaiting  him  on  a  tray. 

O  Matsu  followed  and  sat  down  to  watch 
him  as  he  ate,  filling  his  rice  bowl  again  and 
again  from  the  covered  box  at  her  side.  His 
aversion  came  over  him  in  full  force.  How 
could  he  marry  ?  Women  were  disgusting 
to  him.  Poor  boy !  During  his  years  of 
work  in  Tokyo  he  had  never  spoken  to  a 
woman  higher  in  rank  and  education  than 
his  landlady,  and  to  his  mind  poor  little 
Matsu,  with  her  frowzy  hair  and  grimy 
fingers,  was  the  type  of  womanhood. 

IN   THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


And  now  his  parents  had  written  him  that  225 
the  question  of  marriage  could  no  longer 
be  deferred.  He  was  their  only  son,  and 
his  duty  required  that  he  raise  up  grand 
children  to  do  them  honor.  They  wished 
him  to  take  a  wife  from  his  own  province 
and  city,  and  had  been  thinking  of  their 
neighbor's  daughter,  O  Fumi,  who  was  just 
seventeen  years  old,  and  would  make  a 
good  daughter-in-law,  if  all  that  they  could 
learn  of  her  was  true.  This  they  had  writ 
ten  to  Kintaro  in  the  letter  he  had  received 
that  morning,  and  it  was  this  that  had  so 
disturbed  his  mind. 

O  Fumi  San,  —  he  remembered  her.  She 
was  a  little  girl  when  he  left  home,  —  some 
thing  of  a  hoyden,  with  a  slim  figure  and 
restless  ways.  He  remembered  how  fast 
she  could  run,  with  her  kimono  tucked  up 
to  her  knees  like  a  peasant  girl's,  and  her 
bare  brown  legs  flashing  back  and  forth 
as  fast  as  a  jinrikisha  man's.  She  used  to 
laugh  at  him  too,  for  he  was  always  sit 
ting  on  his  heels  working  away  with  brush 

THE  LADY  OF  THE  SCROLL 


226  and  paper ;  and  she  had  nicknamed  him 
"  Bozu,"  pretending  to  think  that  he  was 
preparing  himself  for  the  priesthood.  He 
had  been  away  from  home  five  years  now, 
and  she  was  seventeen,  and  his  parents 
wanted  him  to  marry  her.  Undoubtedly 
she  had  grown  into  a  fat,  red-cheeked 
maiden  like  O  Matsu  there.  He  shuddered 
at  the  thought,  and  held  out  his  rice-bowl 
to  be  filled  with  tea,  a  sign  that  he  had 
finished  his  meal. 

"O  Matsu  San,  how  old  are  you?"  he 
said,  anxious  to  know  the  worst  about  his 
proposed  bride. 

O  Matsu,  in  an  ecstasy  of  smiles  and 
bows  at  this  unexpected  interest  in  herself, 
answered  as  well  as  she  could  in  the  midst 
of  her  prostrations  that  she  was  seventeen. 
Kintaro's  soul  shrank  within  him.  It  was 
just  as  he  thought !  They  were  like  that  at 
seventeen,  he  said  to  himself,  and  the  pic 
ture  of  roguish,  bright-eyed  O  Fumi  San 
vanished  from  his  heart,  and  O  Matsu,  his 
pet  aversion,  obsessed  him  once  more. 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


The  real  O  Matsu,  humbly  gathering  227 
up  the  supper  things,  vanished  backward 
through  the  screen  door,  leaving  Kintaro 
lost  in  gloomy  meditations.  Suddenly  the 
thought  of  Noguchi's  present  came  to  him, 
and  he  shook  off  his  forebodings,  to  open 
the  cupboard,  unroll  the  kakemono?  and 
hang  it  in  the  tokonoma?  the  place  of  honor 
in  the  room. 

How  radiantly  lovely  it  looked  as  it 
hung  there !  Kintaro  gazed  at  it  as  one 
enchanted,  until  to  his  imagination  the 
face  and  figure  seemed  those  of  a  living 
woman.  Surely  those  mournful  eyes  were 
looking  at  him !  That  mouth  which  had 
been  so  sad  was  almost  smiling !  He 
moved  uneasily  to  the  other  side  of  the 
room,  and  looked  again.  The  eyes  were 
still  following  him.  He  turned  his  back 
and  sat  with  his  face  to  the  wall.  At  last 
he  could  bear  it  no  longer,  and  looked 

1  A  scroll  to  hang  on  the  wall. 

2  The  alcove  in  which  pictures  are  hung  in  a  Jap 
anese  room. 

THE  LADY  OF  THE  SCROLL 


228  around  to  see  the  eyes  still  fixed  upon  him, 
and  the  lips  curving  into  a  smile  about 
which  there  could  be  no  mistake. 

His  spirit  melted  within  him.  His  whole 
soul  went  out  to  the  fair  being  in  the  pic 
ture.  Long  after  he  had  gone  to  bed  he 
lay  with  wide  open  eyes,  staring  at  the 
tokonoma,  and  at  the  graceful  figure  that 
seemed  to  move  back  and  forth,  to  draw 
near  and  recede,  in  the  dim  light  of  the 
night  lantern. 

From  that  time  life  put  on  a  new  aspect 
for  Kintaro.  In  the  daytime  his  kakemono 
lay  rolled  up  and  hidden  in  the  cupboard, 
and  he  worked  at  his  art  as  best  he  could. 
But  work  as  he  might,  only  one  image  was 
before  his  eyes,  only  one  thought  possessed 
his  mind.  He  had  written  to  his  parents 
that  he  was  coming  home  in  six  months, 
and  asked  them  to  let  the  matter  of  O 
Fumi  San  wait  until  his  return ;  and  with 
his  mind  thus  free  for  a  time  from  the 
vexing  question,  he  let  his  thoughts  centre 
about  the  lady  of  the  scroll.  Every  night, 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


as  soon  as  O  Matsu's  ministrations  were  229 
over,  he  hung  the  kakemono  on  the  wall, 
and  lived  in  its  companionship  until 
morning.  He  grew  pale  and  thin.  His 
fellow  students  joked  him  on  his  appear 
ance,  and  asked  him  which  of  the  fash 
ionable  geishas  of  the  day  was  making 
havoc  with  his  heart,  but  he  bristled  up  so 
fiercely  at  the  jesting,  and  put  his  hand  to 
his  side  with  so  meaning  a  motion,  that 
the  mirth  died  away  in  their  throats,  and 
he  was  left  alone  with  his  art  and  his 
dreams. 

One  evening,  when  O  Matsu  had  car 
ried  away  his  supper  tray,  and  he  had 
hung  up  the  kakemono  in  its  accustomed 
place,  Kintaro  sat  down  at  his  desk  to 
write.  His  soul  was  so  full  that  it  must 
find  expression,  and  his  thoughts  poured 
out  upon  the  paper  in  a  poem  to  the  object 
of  his  worship.  It  was  not  very  good  poe 
try,  perhaps,  but  it  came  from  the  depths 
of  an  honest  young  heart,  and  it  relieved 
his  mind.  He  wrote  it  out  in  his  best  hand 

THE  LADY  OF  THE  SCROLL 


230  on  a  poem  card  and  hung  it  beside  the 
picture,  just  as  he  had  often  hung  poems 
on  the  branches  of  his  favorite  plum-tree 
at  Kameido. 

The  moon  was  shining  so  brightly  that 
night  that  Kintaro  put  out  his  lamp  and 
sat  in  the  moonlight  on  the  piazza  of  his 
little  room.  The  scent  of  the  plum-blos 
soms  was  in  the  air,  and  in  the  street 
below  sounded  the  beating  of  drums,  the 
clatter  of  many  clogs,  and  the  sweet,  high 
voices  of  excited  children,  for  there  was  a 
great  temple  festival  in  progress,  and  the 
whole  city  was  out  making  holiday.  Then 
suddenly  there  stood  before  him  in  the 
moonlight  the  beautiful  lady  of  the  scroll. 

Kintaro  did  not  dare  to  move.  He 
thought  it  must  be  a  dream.  But  the  vi 
sion,  if  vision  it  were,  sank  gracefully  to  the 
floor,  bowed  low  three  times,  and  began  to 
speak.  The  voice  was  low  and  sweet,  and 
the  language  was  pure  and  elegant. 

"You  have  done  me  many  and  great 
favors,"  said  his  beautiful  visitor,  "and  I 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


have  been  very  happy  since  I  came  here.    231 
If  what  you  say  in  your  poem  is  true,  and 
if  you  really  wish  me  to  stay  with  you,  I 
will  be  yours  forever." 

Kintaro  was  choking  with  joy  and  fear. 
He  gasped,  he  nearly  fainted.  He  seized 
the  hand  of  the  picture  lady,  and  it  was  so 
warm  and  soft  and  human  that  his  courage 
returned  and  he  was  himself  again.  Far 
into  the  night  they  talked,  and  in  answer 
to  his  eager  questions  she  told  him  all 
about  herself. 

"  I  lived  many  years  ago,"  she  said,  "  in 
China.  I  was  a  gentleman's  daughter,  and 
my  name  was  Shorei."  A  tear  fell  from  her 
eyes  upon  Kintaro's  hand.  "  One  year 
there  was  a  famine,  and  riots  among  the 
peasantry,  and  my  father's  house  was 
burned.  We  ran  away  and  hid,  for  we 
were  all  afraid  of  the  peasants.  We  went 
up  into  the  mountains,  and  I  was  taken 
by  a  robber.  He  sold  me  "  —  she  shud 
dered  —  "  sold  me  "  — her  voice  dropped 
to  a  whisper —  "  to  a  tea-house." 

THE  LADY  OF  THE  SCROLL 


'232  She  was  weeping  now,  and  so  was  Kin- 
taro.  "They  said  I  was  beautiful,  they 
gave  me  fine  clothes,  and  they  petted  me 
and  made  much  of  me.  It  was  there  that 
the  painter  painted  my  picture.  They  tried 
to  make  me  like  the  life,  but  I  could  not 
bear  it.  I  died." 

Kintaro  started  violently  and  dropped 
her  hand.  She  looked  at  him  with  her 
sweet,  sorrowful  eyes. 

"  I  was  glad  when  I  was  dead,"  she  said, 
"  for  spirits  cannot  suffer  as  I  suffered. 
Then  I  came  to  your  country,  and  when  I 
saw  how  you  loved  my  picture,  I  thought 
perhaps  you  would  love  me." 

She  looked  at  him  reproachfully,  and 
he  stretched  forth  his  hand  to  her,  but  she 
vanished  from  his  sight. 

In  the  street  the  lanterns  twinkled  and 
the  clogs  clattered  and  the  children  shouted 
and  sang,  but  Kintaro  sat  alone,  staring 
at  the  spot  where  his  scroll  lady  had  been, 
until  the  city  sank  to  sleep  and  the  moon 
went  down. 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


All  the  next  day  his  thoughts  were  on  233 
his  picture  lady.  He  could  hardly  wait  for 
the  coming  of  night,  and  he  hurried  poor 
little  O  Matsu  about  her  final  work  until 
she  retired  with  her  broad  red  face  drawn 
into  a  woeful  pucker  and  tears  in  her  beady 
black  eyes. 

When  he  hung  up  the  scroll  he  noticed 
that  the  lips  were  smiling,  and  that  the 
eyes  seemed  a  shade  less  sad.  They  were 
looking  to-night,  not  at  him,  but  beyond 
him  at  the  little  desk  at  which  he  studied 
and  wrote.  On  the  desk  lay  a  card  on 
which  was  written  in  an  elegant  feminine 
hand  a  poem.  Eagerly  he  read  it,  and 
the  tears  sprang  to  his  eyes.  It  was  only  a 
couplet,  — 

"  God's  will  it  is  that  here  I  stay 
To  love  and  live  with  you  alway." 

Over  and  over  again  he  read  it,  and  he 
held  out  his  hands  to  the  picture.  "  Is  it 
true  ?  "  he  asked.  "  Will  you  live  with  me 
always?" 

The  soft  eyes  looked  full  into  his,  the 

THE  LADY  OF  THE  SCROLL 


234  beautiful  lips  smiled.  It  was  enough.  His 
joy  was  so  great  that  he  could  not  speak, 
but  he  sat  in  a  transport  until  the  lamp 
burned  out,  and  he  lay  down  on  his  quilt 
to  dream  of  Shorei. 

For  six  months  Kintaro  kept  up  his  in 
tercourse  with  the  spirit  of  Shorei  and  lived 
in  an  ecstasy.  One  night,  late  in  August, 
when  the  crickets  were  chirping  and  the 
whole  population  of  Tokyo  was  walking 
the  streets  for  a  breath  of  fresh  air  before 
closing  the  shutters  for  the  night,  Kintaro 
sat,  in  the  restful  quiet  born  of  a  hot  bath 
and  a  thin  kimono,  on  the  piazza  of  his 
little  room.  Suddenly  Shorei  came  to  him, 
and  her  face  was  sad.  She  sank  to  the 
ground  weeping,  and  bowed  her  head  to 
the  floor. 

"  The  end  has  come,"  she  said.  "  I  have 
been  so  happy  with  you  here  that  I  had 
hoped  it  could  be  always  so.  But  I  must 
go.  You  will  never  see  Shorei  again." 

In  vain  Kintaro  asked  why  she  must 
leave  him.  She  only  said,  "  To-morrow 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


you  shall  know ; "  and  then,  as  she  vanished    235 
from  his  sight,  he  heard  her  whisper,  "  We 
will  meet  soon  again." 

All  night  he  wept,  and  in  the  morning, 
when  he  laid  the  kakemono  in  its  cupboard, 
he  felt  as  if  he  were  burying  a  dead  friend. 

Just  as  he  closed  the  cupboard  and  was 
turning  away  to  look  about  his  empty 
room,  Matsu  thrust  her  head  through  the 
door.  Between  her  finger-tips  she  held  a 
letter.  She  laid  it  down  in  front  of  him,  and 
backed  out  to  bring  his  breakfast. 

Kintaro  unrolled  the  long,  thin  sheet  of 
paper,  and  as  he  read  his  face  clouded. 
"  '  In  Tokyo,' "  he  read ;  "  '  meet  her  to 
day  —  at  the  Koyo  Kwan.' l  Impossible ! 
I  can't ! "  and  he  thought  of  Shorei  and 
all  she  had  been  to  him.  Then  suddenly 
those  last  words  came  to  him,  "  To-morrow 
you  shall  know.  We  will  meet  again  soon." 
It  was  all  so  strange ;  perhaps  this  would 
explain  it. 

Very  carefully  Kintaro  dressed  himself 
1  The  Maple  Club  Inn. 

THE  LADY  OF  THE  SCROLL 


236  that  afternoon,  and  very  spruce  and  hand 
some  he  looked  in  his  flowing  silk  garments 
when  he  stepped  out  of  his  jinrikisha  at 
the  Maple  Club  Inn,  to  meet  an  old  friend 
of  his  father's  who,  accompanied  by  his 
wife,  was  visiting  in  Tokyo.  This  friend  it 
was  who  had  undertaken,  for  the  sake  of 
both  parties  concerned,  to  bring  about  a 
meeting  between  him  and  O  Fumi  San. 

There  was  a  feast  set  in  a  great  upper 
room,  and  when  Kintaro  entered  and  took 
his  seat  in  the  lowest  place,  as  became  his 
age  and  rank,  he  was  greeted  with  smiles 
and  bows  from  many  old  friends  and  neigh 
bors  assembled  to  do  honor  to  the  occa 
sion. 

The  first  greetings  ended,  —  no  light 
matter  in  such  a  company,  —  he  had  time 
to  look  about  him  and  see  what  there  was 
to  be  seen.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the 
room,  just  facing  him,  dressed  in  the  dainty 
full  dress  of  the  modest  Japanese  maiden, 
was  a  vision  from  which  he  could  not  move 
his  startled  eyes.  The  quaint  old-fashioned 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


dress  was  gone,  so  was  the  expression  of    237 
unutterable  sadness,  but  the  face  was  the 
face  of  his  lady  of  the  scroll. 

"  Shorei ! "  he  murmured,  scarcely  know 
ing  what  he  said.  The  beautiful  face  lighted 
up.  Into  the  bright  eyes  flashed  just  a 
glance  of  recognition.  "  I  am  Fumi,"  said 
the  vision,  and  they  bowed  their  faces  to 
the  floor. 


THE  LADY  OF  THE  SCROLL 


X 


HOW   FUMI   REMEMBERED 


X 


"  Even  the  knot  of  the  rope  tying  our  boats  together 
Knotted  was  long  ago  by  some  love  in  a  former  birth." 

Japanese  Folk-Song,  translated  by  Hearn. 

TOKYO,  February  10. 

I  AM  Fumi,  of  the  family  of  Takeda  of 
Sendai.  When  I  came  to  be  sixteen,  my 
mother  said  to  me,  "Fumi,  you  are  too 
headstrong.  You  like  to  run  and  play  out 
of  doors  like  a  boy.  Your  manners  are  not 
quiet  and  ladylike,  but  rough  and  noisy. 
Even  your  little  sister  Michi  can  sew  and 
draw  and  play  the  koto  and  perform  the 
tea  ceremony  better  than  you.  Soon  you 
will  have  to  be  married,  and  what  family 
will  want  to  receive  a  spoiled  child  like 
you  as  a  daughter-in-law?"  My  mother 
shook  her  head  and  sighed,  and  I  was  very 
sorry,  so  sorry  that  I  hid  my  face  and  cried. 

1  A  stringed  instrument  which  takes  the  place  in  a 
Japanese  girl's  education  that  the  piano  does  with  us. 

HOW  FUMI  REMEMBERED 


242  "Oh,  mother!"  I  said,  "what  shall  I  do? 
It  is  so  hard  to  be  good  and  quiet.  When 
I  sit  still  a  long  time  sewing,  my  legs 
tingle,  and  I  have  to  run ;  and  when  I  try 
to  learn  the  tea  ceremony,  the  old  master 
is  so  stiff  and  solemn  that  he  makes  me 
laugh.  I  am  a  bad  girl,  and  I  cannot  be 
like  other  girls.  Oh,  what  shall  I  do  ?  What 
shall  I  do?"  and  I  cried  until  my  sleeves 
were  all  wet,  and  it  was  my  best  dress,  too. 

My  mother  was  very  good  to  me.  She 
patted  me  gently  and  said  softly,  "  Poor 
little  girl!  Poor  little  girl!  Let  us  think 
about  it,  and  I  will  talk  with  your  father." 

By  and  by  I  was  tired  and  my  face  was 
hot,  and  I  heard  a  little  noise  of  scratching 
and  yelping  in  the  garden,  for  I  was  sitting 
close  to  the  veranda.  I  looked  out  from 
behind  my  sleeves  with  one  eye  and  saw 
Shiro  digging.  Shiro  is  my  dog.  He  is  all 
white  except  his  ears,  and  they  are  yellow. 
He  can't  dig  very  well  because  one  of  his 
fore  legs  was  hurt  when  he  was  a  puppy, 
but  he  thinks  he  can,  and  he  was  digging 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


and  yelping.  He  expected  me  to  help  him,  243 
and  kept  yelping  louder  and  louder,  so  I 
called  to  him  that  I  was  coming,  and  ran 
out  through  the  house  to  the  door  where 
my  clogs  were,  and  hurried  as  fast  as  I 
could  to  the  garden.  It  was  only  when  I 
was  coming  back  to  the  house,  all  dirty 
myself,  and  carrying  dirty  little  Shiro  in 
my  arms,  that  I  thought  again  of  what  my 
mother  had  said.  Then  I  suddenly  dropped 
Shiro,  and  the  tears  came  to  my  eyes,  and 
I  hung  my  head  for  fear  some  one  had 
seen  me.  As  I  passed  the  parlor  which 
opened  out  into  the  garden,  I  heard  my 
mother  talking  with  a  visitor.  I  looked, 
and  it  was  Mrs.  Yamazaki,  our  neighbor. 
They  were  probably  talking  of  her  son 
Kintaro,  who  has  been  studying  such  a 
long  time  in  Tokyo.  She  is  very  proud  of 
him,  and  thinks  he  is  the  most  remarkable 
person  in  the  world.  I  hoped  that  she  had 
not  seen  me  playing  with  Shiro  or  coming 
back  all  dirty.  I  am  afraid  my  mother  is 
not  so  proud  of  me. 

HOW  FUMI   REMEMBERED 


244  The  next  day  my  mother  spoke  to  me 
again.  She  told  me  that  I  was  going  to 
Tokyo  to  school.  My  father,  through  our 
prince,  had  gained  admission  for  me  to  the 
school  for  noble  girls,  and  he  hoped  that  I 
would  do  my  best  to  use  the  great  advan 
tages  that  the  school  would  give  me.  She 
told  me  that  the  girls  there  were  all  quiet 
and  ladylike,  that  no  one  was  ever  noisy 
or  headstrong,  and  that  I  must  try  and  learn 
to  be  like  other  girls.  It  was  very  wrong 
of  me,  I  know,  but  I  cried  again.  I  did  not 
want  to  leave  my  home,  and  my  parents 
and  brothers  and  sisters,  and  poor  little 
Shiro. 

My  mother  patted  me  and  comforted 
me.  "  It  will  not  be  for  long,"  she  said, 
"  only  a  few  months,  and  you  will  be  very 
happy  after  you  have  made  friends  among 
the  girls." 

And  that  is  why  I  am  in  Tokyo.  My 
mother  was  right.  I  am  happy  and  I  have 
many  friends.  I  live  with  seven  or  eight 
other  girls  in  one  big  house  with  Mrs. 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


Takahashi,  one  of  our  teachers.    We  walk    245 
to  school  together  every  day,  and  we  play 
together  on  our  holidays. 

I  think  that  here  in  Tokyo  it  is  not 
thought  so  wicked  for  a  girl  to  want  to 
run  and  play.  At  our  school  the  teachers 
play  with  us  and  teach  us  many  games, 
and  sometimes  we  have  a  whole  day  with 
nothing  but  games  and  gymnastics,  and 
the  Empress  comes  and  watches  us  as  we 
play,  and  all  the  parents  of  all  the  children 
come,  and  we  have  a  very  good  time.  I 
have  seen  the  Empress  smile  when  we 
were  at  our  play,  so  I  am  sure  that  it  is  not 
wrong. 

I  have  been  here  ever  since  last  Septem 
ber,  and  now  it  is  February.  I  would  like 
to  see  my  home  and  Shiro,  but  I  am  happy, 
and  because  I  am  happy  I  am  going  to 
write  every  day,  or  sometimes,  anyway, 
about  the  things  I  do,  so  that  when  I  am 
at  home  I  can  read  it  all  over  and  remem 
ber  the  dear  school  life.  To-morrow  we  are 
invited  to  go  out  to  Shinagawa,  to  visit  the 

HOW  FUMI   REMEMBERED 


246  country  house  of  the  Princess  Gojo.  Her 
daughter  is  our  friend,  and  we  are  to  spend 
the  afternoon.  It  will  be  beautiful,  I  know. 

February  13. 

I  have  been  thinking,  it  seems  to  me  for 
years,  but  it  is  really  only  two  days,  and  I 
cannot  think  my  way  out  of  the  strange 
thing  that  has  happened  to  me.  Perhaps 
if  I  write  it  all  down,  I  shall  be  able  to 
understand  it  better. 

On  February  n,  which  is  the  anniver 
sary  of  Jimmu  Tenno,  we  —  that  is,  all  the 
girls  in  our  house — were  invited  by  Princess 
Gojo  to  visit  her  country  house  at  Shina- 
gawa.  We  went  by  train  to  Shimbashi,  and 
had  only  a  little  walk  from  Shinagawa  sta 
tion  to  the  house.  The  situation  of  the  place 
is  beautiful,  looking  out  across  the  bay,  and 
there  is  a  great  garden  with  hills  and  val 
leys  and  lakes  and  forest  trees  and  green 
lawns.  Here  and  there  an  early  plum-tree 
had  begun  to  show  its  pink  and  white  on 
its  old  gray,  gnarled  trunk.  We  played  ten- 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


nis,  and  ran  races  on  the  lawn.  We  climbed  247 
all  the  hills,  getting  a  different  view  from 
each.  We  sat  down  in  the  little  summer- 
houses  and  cooled  off  after  our  exercise, 
for  it  was  a  warm,  sunny  day  like  spring. 
At  last  we  were  called  to  the  house,  and 
wre  sat  about  a  great  parlor  and  they 
brought  us  tea  and  cake  and  o  sushi}- 

The  princess  was  very  kind  and  very 
beautiful.  She  is  tall  and  slender,  and  her 
voice  is  sweet  and  her  manner  very  gra 
cious  even  to  me,  who  am  not  a  nobleman's 
daughter,  only  a  poor  samurai  girl.  She 
spoke  to  me  kindly,  and  said  that  she  knew 
me  because  I  was  the  fastest  runner  in  our 
school.  She  told  me  that  the  Empress  had 
asked  my  name  at  the  last  day  of  field 
sports,  because  I  ran  so  fast.  I  felt  very 
much  ashamed,  and  my  face  grew  very 
hot,  and  I  wondered  what  my  mother 
would  think  of  me. 

1  A  dish  made  of  cold  rice  mixed  with  a  variety 
of  ingredients,  and  as  usual  for  Japanese  entertain 
ments  as  sandwiches  are  in  America. 

HOW  FUMI   REMEMBERED 


248  When  we  had  finished  our  tea,  the  prin 
cess  asked  us  if  we  would  like  to  walk 
about  the  house.  We  were  very  glad,  for  as 
we  sat  we  could  see  that  there  were  many 
beautiful  rooms,  and  I  had  never  seen 
such  a  great  house  before.  Some  of  the 
rooms  were  foreign  and  with  carpets  and 
furniture,  but  most  of  them  were  Japanese, 
with  floors  of  many  mats  and  beautiful, 
shining  wood-work,  and  with  flowers  and 
bronzes  and  paintings  and  ancient  swords 
and  lacquers  set  out  in  the  tokonoma.  The 
princess  led  and  we  followed.  Uta,  my 
dearest  friend,  and  I  went  hand  in  hand, 
very  quietly,  looking  at  all  the  beautiful 
things  that  had  been  taken  out  of  the 
storehouses  for  us  to  see.  Suddenly,  as  we 
stood  before  a  kakemono  that  hung  in  one 
of  the  rooms,  a  strange  feeling  came  over 
me.  It  was  a  picture  of  a  young  girl,  very 
beautiful  and  sad,  dressed  in  strange  flow 
ing  garments.  Somewhere  I  had  seen  that 
picture  before.  I  looked  at  it  so  long  that 
the  princess  noticed  me.  "  Do  you  like  it, 

IN  THE   LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


0  Fumi  San ? "  she  said.    "If  it  were  the    249 
original,  I  believe  it  would  be  the  finest 
picture  in  all  Japan,  but  it  is  only  a  copy, 

by  a  Japanese  artist,  of  a  celebrated  Chi 
nese  picture  that  is  now  lost."  Though  I 
heard  all  she  said  and  answered  her,  my 
mind  was  still  at  work  at  the  picture.  I 
had  seen  it  before.  I  knew  I  had  seen  it 
before,  but  where  ?  And  then,  slowly,  bit 
by  bit,  a  scene  came  before  my  mind.  A 
strange  garden  —  a  young  artist  with  a 
mild,  smooth  face  and  dressed  in  strange 
garments  painting  a  picture  of  —  myself! 
But  I  was  not  Fumi,  of  the  family  of 
Takeda.  What  was  I?  Then  something 
seemed  to  snap  in  my  head  and  I  fell.  The 
next  thing  I  knew,  Uta  and  the  other  girls 
were  bending  over  me  as  I  lay  on  the  floor, 
and  I  heard  the  princess  say,  "  Poor  little 
thing  !  She  has  run  too  hard." 

The  princess  was  very  kind  and  sent  me 
home  in  her  carriage  with  O  Uta  San  to 
take  care  of  me,  and  all  the  way  home,  as 

1  lay  back  on  the  cushions,  my  mind  went 

HOW  FUMI  REMEMBERED 


250  over  and  over  the  question,  "  Who  was  I 
when  I  was  not  Fumi  ?  "  Every  turn  of  the 
wheels,  every  beat  of  the  horses'  hoofs, 
every  shout  of  the  running  grooms,  seemed 
to  repeat  the  question  to  me. 

It  was  dark  when  we  reached  home, 
and  I  was  hurried  off  to  bed  by  good  Mrs. 
Takahashi  as  soon  as  she  heard  that  I  was 
tired  out.  There  I  lay  and  stared  at  the 
ceiling  while  the  girls  chattered  about  me, 
and  then,  when  all  was  quiet  at  last,  and 
dark,  except  for  the  glimmer  of  the  night 
light,  I  still  lay  with  my  eyes  wide  open, 
asking  the  same  question.  I  heard  the 
slow  tolling  of  the  bell  in  the  Sho-kon-sha 
Temple  as  the  hours  went  by.  And  at  last 
the  answer  came. 

Whether  I  was  sleeping  or  waking  I 
do  not  know,  but  suddenly  I  was  far  away 
from  the  familiar  little  room,  standing  in  a 
balcony,  looking  out  into  a  green  garden, 
and  was  surprised  to  see  that  the  loose 
robes  in  which  I  was  dressed  were  quite 
different  from  what  I  was  used  to.  A  young 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


man  stood  in  the  garden  below  me,  look-  251 
ing  at  me  with  wistful  eyes.  "  Shorei,"  he 
said,  "  I  will  paint  your  picture,  and  it  will 
be  so  beautiful  that  when  I  take  it  to  the 
Emperor  and  give  it  to  him,  he  will  make 
me  a  great  lord,  and  I  can  marry  you." 

My  heart  was  sore,  and  there  was  a  terri 
ble  fear  behind  me,  a  fear  of  something  that 
I  could  not  understand.  I  looked  into  his 
kind  eyes,  and  they  made  my  heart  a  little 
restful.  "  Come  soon,"  was  all  I  had  time 
to  say,  for  just  then  a  terrible,  coarse,  fat 
woman  came  to  me  and  said,  "  Make  haste, 
they  are  waiting  for  you.  You  must  dance 
to-night  before  a  great  company,"  and  she 
dragged  me  roughly  into  the  house,  so 
roughly  that  everything  went  away,  and 
I  was  once  more  in  my  own  bed  on  the 
matted  floor  and  Uta  was  sleeping  at  my 
side. 

Since  then  it  has  been  coming  to  me 
little  by  little,  —  the  memory  of  another 
childhood,  far  away  in  some  strange  land, — 
the  memory  of  wars  and  burning  houses, 

HOW  FUMI  REMEMBERED 


252    and  of  long  hidings  in  rough  mountain 
caves,  and  at  last  of  a  great  fight  in  which 
all  my  friends  were  killed,  and  I,  a  prisoner 
among  robbers,  was  led  to  a  town  and 
sold.   And  then  the  memory  of  a  shameful 
life,  —  my  cheeks  burn  at  the  thought  of  it, 
—  of  dancing  before  great  companies  of 
men,  of  their  drunken  smiles,  their  coarse 
jokes,  their  rough  caresses.    And  I  remem 
ber  so  clearly  how  the  fat  woman  who  kept 
the  house  used  to  tell  me  that  I  was  beauti 
ful,  and  how  she  tried  to  treat  me  kindly 
because  my  beauty  was  making  her  rich. 
But  sometimes,  when  I  was  too  sad   or 
weak  to  be  amusing,  she  would  treat  me 
roughly.    She  would  sneer  at  me,  and  tell 
me  that  I  need  not  think,  because  I  was  a 
gentleman's  daughter,  that  I  was  too  fine 
for  her  work.    She  had  other  work  in  store 
for  me  that  I  would  not  like  as  well,  if  I 
grew  too  proud  to  dance  for  her  guests. 
The  memory  of  that  fear  that  she  kept 
always  in  my  soul  is  with  me  still.    How  I 
hated  the  life  !   How  I  longed  for  escape  ! 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


I  remember  that  one  day  I  found  a  sharp  253 
sword  lying  where  one  of  the  guests  had 
laid  it  aside,  and  I  took  it  and  would  have 
killed  myself,  but  the  old  woman  saw  it 
and  snatched  it  from  me.  After  that  she 
watched  me  carefully,  and  I  could  do 
nothing  that  she  did  not  see. 

As  if  through  the  mists  of  a  thousand 
years  I  can  see  him  now  as  he  looked  the 
first  day  he  came.  He  was  young,  and  with 
a  good,  kind  face,  and  he  did  not  laugh 
and  shout  and  try  to  handle  me  after  the 
dance.  He  only  looked  at  me  with  his 
kind  eyes,  though  I  could  see  them  flash 
sometimes  when  the  other  men  grew  insult 
ing.  And  when  the  weary  feast  was  done, 
and  I  lay  resting,  and  wishing  I  could  die 
before  suffering  such  shame  again,  I  heard 
his  voice  talking  in  low  tones  to  my  mis 
tress. 

"That  dancing-girl  of  yours  is  very 
beautiful,"  he  said  ;  "  I  wish  to  have  her  for 
my  wife." 

The  woman   laughed,   a  great,  coarse 

HOW  FUMI   REMEMBERED 


254  laugh.  "  Surely  you  are  a  brave  fellow ! " 
she  said.  "  Do  you  know  what  the  girl  is 
worth  to  me  ?  She  brings  a  stream  of  gold 
nightly  into  this  house,  and  you,  young 
cock,  want  to  take  her  away  for  your  wife  ! 
She  shall  be  no  man's  wife  until  I  am  paid 
three  thousand  pieces  of  gold,"  and  she 
laughed  again. 

"  I  am  not  rich,"  he  answered,  "  but 
within  a  month  you  shall  have  your  three 
thousand  pieces  of  gold ; "  and  I  heard  his 
footsteps  as  he  left  the  room. 

Every  day  for  a  few  days,  I  saw  him  in 
the  garden,  and  he  painted  at  his  picture. 
Then,  when  it  was  finished,  he  came  no 
more.  The  month  went  by  and  he  did  not 
come,  and  I  began  to  fear.  And  then,  one 
day,  I  heard  his  voice  in  the  garden.  I  re 
member  how  sad  it  sounded,  so  sad  that 
at  first  I  did  not  know  it. 

"  Shorei,"  he  called  softly,  and  I  went  to 
my  balcony  and  looked  down,  and  saw  him 
standing,  dressed  in  white  and  with  a  dag 
ger  in  his  hand.  "  I  have  sent  the  picture 

IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE  GODS 


to  the  Emperor,  and  I  have  been  waiting  255 
now  for  days  and  no  word  has  come  to  me. 
And  to-day  I  have  heard  that  he  by  whom 
I  sent  it,  and  whom  I  thought  my  friend, 
has  taken  the  credit  of  it  to  himself,  and  is 
raised  to  high  honor.  I  am  going  away. 
The  next  life  can  be  no  worse  than  this," 
and  he  unsheathed  the  dagger. 

"  Oh,  take  me  with  you  where  you  go, ' 
I  cried.  "  I  cannot  live  here  ! " 

I  heard  the  thumping  step  of  my  mistress 
coming  to  take  me  down  to  the  dancing- 
room.  I  could  not  go,  and  I  threw  myself 
down  from  the  balcony.  That  is  all  I  can 
remember.  Where  was  I  when  I  was  Shorei? 
And  who  was  he  who  wanted  to  buy  me  in 
marriage?  These  questions  are  running 
through  my  head  all  day.  I  cannot  talk, 
nor  do  my  school  work,  nor  play.  Uta  says 
to  me,  "  What  is  the  matter  ?  Have  you 
had  bad  news  from  home?  Are  you  ill? 
Why  don't  you  come  out  and  play  with 
us?"  But  I  cannot  go.  I  must  sit  in  my 
room  and  think. 

HOW  FUMI   REMEMBERED 


256  February  15. 

Where  was  I  ?  Who  was  he  ?  Sometimes 
it  seems  as  if  I  was  on  the  very  edge  of 
knowing,  and  then  it  all  goes  again.  Last 
night,  as  I  lay  in  bed,  my  soul  was  mov 
ing,  sailing  on  and  on  through  space,  and 
I  thought,  "  Now  I  shall  see  him.  Now  I 
shall  know."  And  then  suddenly  I  felt 
myself  falling,  falling,  down,  down,  and 
I  opened  my  eyes.  It  was  dark,  for  the 
night  light  had  burned  out.  I  could  not 
see  Uta,  but  I  heard  her  move  and  sigh  in 
her  sleep. 

February  16. 

Last  night,  I  seemed  to  be  dancing  all 
night  before  those  men,  and  they  shouted 
and  applauded.  And  one  said,  "  There  is 
not  such  another  dancer  in  all  the  realm  of 
China."  And  they  shouted  all  together, 
"  None  such  in  China  nor  in  all  the 
world  ! "  Surely  I  might  have  known  be 
fore,  for  the  princess  said  that  her  picture 
was  a  copy  of  one  by  a  Chinese  artist. 

IN   THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


February  17.        257 

I  have  seen  him  again.  This  was  the 
way.  I  was  so  tired  that  I  asked  Mrs. 
Takahashi  to  excuse  me  and  let  me  go  to 
bed  early.  She  looked  at  me  very  kindly 
and  said,  "  Yes,  you  may  go.  I  am  afraid 
you  are  very  tired."  By  the  time  I  had 
made  my  bed  and  crept  into  it,  I  was  shiv 
ering,  for  the  night  was  cold  and  damp ; 
and  I  could  not  sleep,  but  lay  curled  up 
with  my  head  covered.  And  then,  all  at 
once,  I  saw  him.  It  was  not  the  old  bal 
cony,  or  the  garden  that  I  remembered,  it 
was  a  poor  little  Japanese  room,  and  he  sat 
on  the  floor  and  looked  at  the  tokonoma 
where  I  stood.  I  tried  to  go  to  him,  but  I 
could  not.  I  could  only  smile  a  little,  and 
follow  him  with  my  eyes  as  he  moved  from 
one  part  of  the  room  to  another.  He  did 
not  know  me  nor  speak  to  me.  He  only 
looked  at  me,  and  sometimes  it  seemed  as 
if  he  was  afraid  of  me.  Why  was  I  there  ? 
Why  was  he  there?  Why  could  we  not 
talk  as  we  used  to  do  long  ago  ? 

HOW  FUMI   REMEMBERED 


258  February  18. 

I  have  seen  him  now  three  nights,  in 
the  same  little  room.  He  looks  at  me  but 
does  not  speak,  and  I  cannot.  Sometimes 
I  smile,  but  often  I  am  so  sad  that  I  can 
only  look  at  him. 

February  24. 

Every  night  I  go  to  him.  He  does  not 
remember  me,  but  perhaps  he  will  some 

day. 

March  10. 

Last  night,  all  at  once,  everything 
changed.  When  I  first  saw  him,  he  was 
writing.  He  sat  at  his  little  table.  Some 
times  he  looked  at  me,  and  then  he  would 
sigh  and  write.  At  last  he  came  to  where 
I  stood.  I  smiled,  for  I  thought  he  was 
going  to  speak  to  me.  But  he  did  not.  He 
lifted  the  poem  card  on  which  he  had  been 
writing  and  hung  it  beside  me,  so  close 
that  I  could  read  it.  These  are  the  words : 

"  If  from  the  painted  scroll  thy  lips  smile  kindly  upon 

me, 

What  wouldst  thou  do  for  me,  wert  thou  here  in  the 
body  to-night  ? 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


To  me  from  what  other  life  comes  thy  sweet  spirit    259 

winging  ? 
Stay  with  me  ever,  beloved ;  without  thee  my  soul  is 

alone." 

A  painted  scroll !  That  was  all  I  was 
to  him !  A  beautiful  picture  to  hang  in  the 
tokonoma  !  He  did  not  remember  me  as  I 
did  him.  That  other  life,  when  I  was  Shore! 
and  he  a  young  painter,  was  all  gone  from 
his  memory.  He  looked  at  me  so  sadly 
when  he  hung  up  the  poem  that  I  tried  to 
speak,  but  I  could  not.  Then  he  put  out 
the  light,  and  went  out  to  his  little  balcony 
and  sat  watching  the  moonlight  and  listen 
ing  to  the  noises  of  the  street.  "  Oh,  if  I 
could  only  speak  to  him  ! "  I  thought,  "  I 
would  tell  him  who  I  was,  and  perhaps 
he  would  remember."  And  then,  suddenly, 
I  felt  that  I  could  move  and  speak.  I  was 
floating  toward  him.  I  was  sitting  beside 
him.  I  was  telling  all  my  story.  He  held 
my  hand  as  if  to  keep  me,  and  I  was  glad, 
for  I  felt  that  I  must  soon  slip  away,  it  was 
only  his  strong  desire  that  was  holding  me 

HOW  FUMI   REMEMBERED 


260  to  him.  And  then,  I  think  it  was  when 
I  spoke  of  my  death,  he  drew  himself 
away.  I  could  not  stay,  and  I  found 
myself  once  more  in  my  own  little  room 
with  Uta  asleep  quietly  by  my  side. 

March  11. 

All  yesterday  I  thought  about  how  I 
should  meet  him  last  night.  Would  he  de 
sire  me  again  ?  Might  I  speak  to  him  ?  or 
would  he  send  me  away  as  he  did  before  ? 
If  he  should,  how  could  I  bear  it?  I  must 
speak  to  him  and  tell  him  my  heart.  And 
then,  I  thought,  as  he  had  written  a  poem  to 
me,  I  would  write  one  to  him.  Our  teacher 
at  school  tells  me  sometimes  that  I  can 
write  prettily.  If  I  could  only  tell  him  so 
that  he  could  read  it !  I  wrote  it  over  and 
over  again  and  again  before  I  copied  it  on 
the  card.  It  was  not  pretty  when  it  was 
finished.  It  only  said  that  I  would  stay 
with  him  always. 

I  held  it  in  my  hand  that  night  when  I 
went  to  bed,  and  I  wished,  oh,  how  I  wished 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


that  I  might  give  it  to  him  !  I  shut  my  eyes  261 
and  held  it  tight,  and  soon  I  saw  his  little 
upstairs  room.  The  table  was  covered  with 
papers,  and  lying  on  top  of  all  was  my 
little  card.  How  glad  I  was !  He  looked 
at  me,  but  I  looked  at  the  desk  and  smiled. 
He  did  not  speak.  I  could  not.  But  after 
a  while  he  too  looked  over  at  the  desk  and 
saw  the  card.  When  he  had  read  it,  he 
turned  to  me  and  his  eyes  were  bright  with 
joy.  "  Is  it  true  ?  "  he  said.  "  Will  you  live 
with  me  always  ?  "  I  could  not  speak,  my 
heart  was  so  full,  but  he  must  have  known, 
for  he  sat  and  looked  and  looked  at  me, 
until  at  last  I  slipped  away  and  left  him 
still  looking  at  my  image  in  the  tokonoma. 
This  morning  the  card  was  not  in  my  hand, 
nor  could  I  find  it  in  the  bed  or  in  the 
room.  I  did  not  dream  last  night.  I  really 
went  and  gave  him  my  poem  ! 

August  20. 

It  is  a  long  time  since  I  have  written  in 
my  diary.  Although  school  has  been  closed 

HOW  FUMI  REMEMBERED 


262  since  July,  I  have  been  here  all  summer, 
for  my  father  and  mother  have  been  away 
up  in  Hokkaido,  and  they  thought  it  best 
for  me  to  stay  with  Mrs.  Takahashi,  and 
learn  as  much  as  possible  during  the  sum 
mer.  I  have  lessons  every  day,  and  it  is 
very  dull  here  in  Tokyo,  for  most  of  my 
friends  are  away,  but  I  am  glad  I  did  not 
have  to  go,  for  perhaps  if  I  were  elsewhere 
I  could  not  go,  as  I  do  now,  every  night  to 
see  Kintaro  and  talk  with  him.  It  is  strange 
that  this  young  artist,  the  same  who  painted 
my  picture  when  I  was  Shorei,  should  be 
Kintaro  Yamazaki  of  Sendai  now.  He  does 
not  remember  when  he  lived  in  China,  nor 
does  he  know  that  I  am  Fumi  Takeda.  He 
knows  me  only  as  Shorei,  and  though  I 
have  told  him  of  the  young  artist  in  China, 
he  does  not  like  to  hear  of  him,  for  he 
thinks  of  him  always  as  another  man. 
When  I  speak  of  him  sometimes  Kintaro 
is  sad,  sometimes  he  is  cross,  but  he  is 
never  interested. 

I  have  heard  our  old  priest  at  home  say 

IN  THE   LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


that  to  most  men,  when  the  gates  of  the  263 
new  birth  open,  the  gates  of  the  old  life 
close,  but  to  a  few  the  gates  of  the  old  life 
are  left  ajar,  and  a  wind  from  the  spirit 
world  may  open  them  wide  some  day,  so 
that  the  two  lives  are  all  one  memory.  That 
is  the  way  it  is  with  Kintaro  and  me.  His 
gates  are  closed,  but  mine  blew  wide  open 
that  day  at  Princess  Gojo's,  and  now  I  have 
remembered  all  of  that  old  life  in  China. 

August  21. 

Such  news  has  come  to  me  to-day !  How 
strange  that  I  never  knew  it !  My  mother 
has  written  me  to  say  that  long  ago  it 
was  decided  between  my  parents  and  his 
parents  that  Kintaro  was  to  marry  me 
when  I  grew  up.  And  now,  she  writes,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Suzuki  of  Sendai  are  to  be  in 
town  for  a  few  days,  and  they  will  invite 
us  to  a  party  at  the  Koyo  Kwan,  so  that 
we  may  see  each  other.  What  shall  I  do  ? 
Will  he  know  me?  If  he  does  not  know 
me,  I  can  never  marry  him,  for  I  shall 

HOW  FUMI   REMEMBERED 


264  know  that  he  cannot  care  for  me  while  he 
loves  Shorei.  I  cannot  tell  him,  for  if  he 
does  not  know  me  as  Fumi,  I  do  not  want 
him  to  marry  her  because  she  is  Shorei. 
Oh,  if  we  could  only  go  on  as  we  have 
always  done ! 

August  24. 

My  mother  writes  that  Mr.  Suzuki  is 
going  to  invite  us  for  to-morrow.  What 
shall  I  do  ? 

August  25. 

I  must  meet  him  this  afternoon.  I  told 
him  last  night  that  he  would  never  see 
Shorei  again.  It  made  me  very  sad,  for  to 
myself  I  feel  almost  as  real  as  Shorei  as  I 
do  as  Fumi.  He  wept  and  held  me,  but  I 
slipped  away  from  him. 

August  26. 

I  could  not  look  at  him  when  he  came 
into  the  room,  I  was  so  ashamed.  I  sat  at 
the  end  of  the  room.  He  did  not  see  me 
at  first,  for  he  was  busy  bowing  to  all  the 
guests.  It  was  only  when  he  took  his  place 
opposite  me  that  he  looked  at  me.  I  saw 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  GODS 


that  he  knew  me.  His  face  grew  sud-  265 
denly  bright,  and  he  said  very  softly, 
"Shore! I"  and  I  answered  as  well  as  I 
could,  for  I  was  nearly  choking  with  joy, 
"  I  am  Fumi."  That  was  enough.  Now  he 
is  my  own  in  this  new  life,  and  nothing, 
not  even  death,  can  part  us  again,  I  be 
lieve. 


HOW  FUMI   REMEMBERED 


GLOSSARY 


Amado,  lit.  "  rain  doors,"  the  sliding  wooden 
shutters  that  close  the  house  in  stormy  weather 
or  at  night. 

Amazakt,  a  sweet,  thick,  slightly  fermented  rice 
soup. 

Amt,  a  sweetmeat  made  from  wheat  gluten. 

Ameya,  a  seller  of  am'e. 

Amma,  a  masseur. 

Andon,  a  paper  lantern  used  as  a  night-light. 

Baya,  a  term  used  in  addressing  an  old  woman 
servant,  like  "  Aunty  "  or  "  Mammy  "  in  the  South. 

Bon  Matsuri,  or  O  Bon,  the  annual  Feast  of 
the  Dead. 

Botchan,  "  Little  Mr.  Priest,"  the  universal  title 
of  the  small  boy,  probably  on  account  of  his 
shaven  head. 

Bozu,  Buddhist  priest. 

Dori,  street. 

Fudo,  the  Buddhist  God  of  Wisdom. 

Furoshiki,  a  square  of  cloth  used  for  wrapping 
bundles. 


GLOSSARY 


270        Furugiya,  old  clothes  dealer. 

Futon,  the  heavy  quilts  used  in  making  a  Jap 
anese  bed. 

Go  chiso,  "honorable  entertainment,"  applied 
to  especially  nice  food. 

Go  Inkyo  Sama,  a  title  given  to  an  old  person 
who  has  retired  from  active  participation  in  the 
affairs  of  life. 

Hachiman,  the  Shinto  God  of  War. 

Hoi,  "  Yes,"  or  "  I  am  listening." 

Heimin,  the  common  people  as  distinguished 
from  the  military  or  samurai  class. 

Hibachi,  a  fire-box  or  brazier. 

Inari,  the  God  of  Rice,  whose  messengers  are 
foxes. 

Jiiya,  a  title  for  an  old  man  servant,  used 
much  as  "  Uncle  "  is  used  in  the  South. 

Jizo,  a  Buddhist  saint,  helper  especially  of  the 
souls  of  little  children. 

Kakemono,  a  scroll  to  hang  on  the  wall. 

Kitsunt,  a  fox. 

Kotatsu,  a  fire-box  in  the  floor  over  which  is  set 
a  rack,  and  the  whole  covered  by  a  heavy  com 
fortable. 

Koto,  a  stringed  instrument. 

Koyo  Kwan,  the  Maple  Club  Inn. 

GLOSSARY 


Kuruma,  a  jinrikisha.  271 

Kurumaya,  a  jinrikisha  man. 

Kwannon,  the  Buddhist  Goddess  of  Mercy. 

Miya  mairi,  the  presentation  of  a  baby  in  the 
temple. 

Mochi,  rice  dumpling,  a  festival  dish. 

Montzuki,  the  ceremonial  dress,  made  all  of  one 
plain  color,  faced  and  lined  with  white,  and  with 
the  monogram  or  family  crest  of  the  wearer  on 
sleeves  and  back. 

Nio,  "Two  Kings,"  Indra  and  Brahma,  who 
keep  guard  at  the  outer  gates  of  Buddhist  temples 
to  scare  away  demons. 

Noshi,  a  bit  of  bright-colored  paper  folded 
about  a  piece  of  sea-weed  and  slipped  under  the 
string  of  a  present. 

Oban,  a  large,  oval  gold  coin,  worth  about 
eighty  dollars,  now  out  of  use. 

Obi,  sash. 

O  Bon,  see  Bon  Matsuri. 

O  Jo  Sama,  the  title  used  in  speaking  to  or 
about  a  young  unmarried  lady. 

O  kaeri,  "  Honorable  return,"  the  greeting  to 
a  returning  guest  or  member  of  the  family. 

O  Mi  age,  a  present  brought  back  to  one  who 
stays  at  home. 

GLOSSARY 


272  O  Sushi,  a  dish  made  of  cold  rice  mixed  with 
a  variety  of  ingredients. 

O  Tottsu  San,  Father. 

Rin,  a  coin  worth  about  a  half  mill. 

Sake,  rice  wine. 

Samurai,  the  military  class. 

Sayo  de  gozaimasu,  "  It  is  honorably  so." 

Sayo  nara,  "  Good-by,"  lit.  "  If  it  must  be." 

Shoji,  the  light  sliding  sashes  covered  with 
paper  which  close  in  a  Japanese  house. 

Soroban,  the  abacus  or  counting-frame  used 
by  merchants  throughout  the  East. 

Tabi,  a  mitten-shaped  sock  worn  in  the  house, 
and  with  clogs  or  sandals  out  of  doors. 

Tadaima,  "  Just  now ! "  the  response  to  O 
kaeri. 

Tempo  sen,  a  large,  oval  copper  coin  worth  about 
eight  mills,  now  out  of  use. 

Tengu,  a  wood  goblin. 

To  chirimen,  lit.  "  foreign  crape,"  a  thin  woolen 
material  used  for  the  cheaper  undergarments, 
sashes,  etc. 

Tokonoma,  the  alcove  in  which  pictures  are  hung 
in  a  Japanese  room. 

Torii,  an  erection  in  the  form  of  a  gateway  that 
marks  the  entrance  to  a  temple  or  sacred  place. 

GLOSSARY 


Uma,  horse.  273 

Yashiki)  a  palace  or  fine  house. 
Yen,  the  Japanese  monetary  unit,  worth  about 
fifty  cents. 

Yoshitsunt,  a  hero  of  the  twelfth  century. 


GLOSSARY 


(OTfae  fiitersibe 

Electrotyped  and  printed  by  H.  O.  Houghton  &*  Co, 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


